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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22668994">Shaken by a world untrue</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/linkedvrains/pseuds/cybersewisteria'>cybersewisteria (linkedvrains)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Kinda, Lost Incident 2.0, Mention of torture, Minor Character Death, Post-Canon, Violence, because things only get worse, kids deserve some break, might add some tags later, minor like small background character, no real pair yet, not actually a fix it story</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 16:41:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>40,730</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22668994</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/linkedvrains/pseuds/cybersewisteria</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>One, he wasn’t the only one. They had spoken about getting the other five involved as well in their attempt to recreate the Ignis. He wasn’t so sure how successful they had been with this plan. Part of him hoped that Takeru was okay. Part of him was rather much aware that Spectre was safe with Hanoi. But the other three… Yusaku couldn’t give up when it wasn’t only his life depending on it. </p><p>Two, even if part of him was hoping for Takeru to be okay, he still needed to get out here alive so he could face him and Ryoken to ask them why they didn’t search for him. Why they had left him behind like that. </p><p>Three, he needed to get out here alive so he could make those responsible for this suffer. </p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ai | Ignis &amp; Fujiki Yuusaku, Fudou Yuusei &amp; Fujiki Yuusaku, Fujiki Yuusaku &amp; Homura Takeru, Fujiki Yuusaku &amp; Kusanagi Jin, Fujiki Yuusaku &amp; Revolver | Kougami Ryouken, Fujiki Yuusaku &amp; Sugisaki Miyu, Homura Takeru &amp; Revolver | Kougami Ryouken</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>80</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. [ One ]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I could say a lot about this story at this point, but I don't want to spoil anything about it so i won't. </p><p>Actually this story is really important to me. I started it while I still was at clinic and it gave me a lot of strength to move on, so it's mostly something I do for myself. But I know there are some people interested in this so I thought why not share it with the world? </p><p>I hope some of you like it. I try to update the new chapters regulary, probably ever two weeks or once in a month, I guess I'll have to see how good I can keep up with writing this project during the next weeks cause I'm also working on another story for this years Yu-Gi-Oh BigBang. </p><p>Also I want to use this place to say a big thank you to whiteautumn for beta reading. You're comments helped me a lot in showing me where I needed to add things that were clear inside my head, but probably too clear cause I forgot to write them down x'D<br/>As well as thank you to yozakuun for all the hours we spend with talking about this AU. I probably wouldn't have made it this far without you x'D</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Yusaku couldn’t exactly say how much time had passed since he had been thrown into this room, quite literally. The only thing that reminded him of the fact that he indeed still was alive was the familiar, constant pain and the feeling of hunger that didn’t seem to go away. Forcing himself to open his eyes again he was rather soon met with white walls, the VR glasses on the ground before him where he had thrown them earlier in some kind of angry fit. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>No one would come for him this time, no matter how much he was hoping for it. He couldn’t even say who he had hoped for to begin with. Kusanagi, who probably was busy enough with his brother? Takeru who had left Den City behind? Ryoken, who yet again ran away on that stupid boat of his with a farewell that probably had broken his heart if he hadn’t been so broken about the fact of having to fight Ai to begin with? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They wouldn’t come for him. They probably didn’t even notice what had happened in the first place. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Think of three things</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>If he wouldn’t feel this weak already Yusaku would have laughed about the fact that the same words kept him going. Nearly a decade later and it was still Ryoken’s three things mantra that kept him going. It wasn’t about going home anymore, as he was rather well aware of the fact that </span>
  <em>
    <span>home</span>
  </em>
  <span> didn’t exist. But he still had three reasons to live. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <b>One</b>
  <span>, he wasn’t the only one. They had spoken about getting the other five involved as well in their attempt to recreate the Ignis. He wasn’t so sure how successful they had been with this plan. Part of him hoped that Takeru was okay. Part of him was rather much aware that Spectre was safe with Hanoi. But the other three… Yusaku couldn’t give up when it wasn’t only his life depending on it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Two</b>
  <span>, even if part of him was hoping for Takeru to be okay, he still needed to get out here alive so he could face him and Ryoken to ask them why they didn’t search for him. Why they had left him behind like that. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <b>Three</b>
  <span>, he needed to get out here alive so he could make those responsible for this </span>
  <em>
    <span>suffer</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But no matter how many times he had brought those thoughts back to his mind… it was getting harder to go on. Not only because he was getting tired of it. The pain, the hunger. Yusaku could still remember every single piece of food he had gotten back then when he had been in a situation like this the first time. This time… the portions were even </span>
  <em>
    <span>smaller</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Nearly not enough to satisfy his empty stomach. He was a way better duelist than he had been back then. Had won nearly all duells in the first what… days? Weeks? It didn’t matter. Because even with his winning he didn’t get enough food to fill his stomach. And with the growing hunger he got more and more unconcentrated. And once he had lost the first duel in nearly a decade… his mind had stopped working at that moment. Panic had him in it’s strong grip and the teen hadn’t been able to do anything for the next few hours… days… he couldn’t tell. It didn’t matter anyways. It was a down spiral that he couldn’t escape. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And eventually he ended up in the state he was right now. Hungry, tired and surprisingly </span>
  <em>
    <span>angry</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He couldn’t really say at who directly he was directing this anger to. Those that put him in this situation? Those that failed to save him? Probably every single human being that wasn’t going through the same pain as he was right now. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was the moment something </span>
  <em>
    <span>changed</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Yusaku wasn’t able to say what exactly it was at first due to being so tired, but with a few seconds delay he understood that it was his link sense that had gone up, telling him something was around. It felt… kinda familiar like Ai had been, but at the same time different and the teen’s eyes widened a bit. Had they already been successful? Was it another Ignis? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Closing his eyes he tried to focus more on that feeling. Were there more than one? How many others had they dragged into this hell?  Eventually he could find two smaller pulses, not as strong as the first one so… there were two others. But they weren’t here as long as he had so the AIs weren’t developed that much yet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>This… wasn’t supposed to happen. Ai had been the last remaining Ignis and with his death… there wasn't supposed to be any others. If there was an Ignis to come back it should have been Ai. It should have… </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>But Ai did leave you behind, didn’t he?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Well that… was a new one. Yusaku’s eyes opened in surprise once he had heard that unknown voice. Was… this new AI talking to him? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Shut up. He didn’t have a choice.”  Or at least Ai had </span>
  <em>
    <span>believed</span>
  </em>
  <span> he did not.  Ai had fallen for the simulations to a point where he hadn’t been able to accept any possibility other than having to die. For </span>
  <em>
    <span>him</span>
  </em>
  <span>. But yet… that was nothing he would blame Ai for, no matter what that voice says. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>You say that now. But you want to get out right? I could help you with that.’</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>At those words he bit down on his lower lip a bit. Enough for it to start bleeding, but not enough for it to actually hurt. His pain tolerance obviously had gone up thanks to his </span>
  <em>
    <span>treatment </span>
  </em>
  <span>here. “And how would you do this?” Was he actually thinking about taking up that offer? Yusaku couldn’t deny that getting out sounded like a dream. And if there was the possibility…. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>No one else seemed to come for them… </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What do you want me to do?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For a moment there was silence and he nearly started to laugh because was he already getting crazy and imagining talking to someone? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Go online.</span>
  </em>
  <span>’</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And he flinched at those words. Because that actually was the last thing he wanted to do. Another duel… he was too tired, too hungry for this. And yet... he needed to fight. To go on. Needed to get out to save whoever was held here with him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shaking hands were grabbing the glasses again, putting them back on his face. Thanks to them blocking his vision Yusaku didn’t notice how his duel disk started to blink. Downloaded a new program. He was as ready as he could be to face another AI opponent. Instead the words ‘Into the VRAINS’ flashed up on his duel disk and the teen collapsed on the ground. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. [ Two ]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Whatever had happened… it must have shaken the younger one. No matter how much Ryoken had tried in the past, he never had been able to lose the younger’s trust ever since he found out who he really was. So with him asking a question like that now… he really seemed to be disappointed in Ryoken. </p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Remember when I said I either upload every two weeks or every month?<br/>Yeah well I lied X___X </p><p>Anyways, I'm not sure what exactly the upload schedule will be eventually but we'll find out eventually. </p><p>Feedback's highly aprochiated.  </p><p>Also thanks a lot for all the kudos &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Revolver couldn’t exactly say when it had started, but lately Soulburner was around him more often. At first he hadn’t really noticed it as the fiery duelist had just happened to pass by the building he was standing on with this girl on his side. Spectre had made a comment about it that he had ignored while letting his eyes wander around the surroundings without paying Soulburner that much attention at all. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A few days later they had met again, this time both on their own. Revolver had stood on one of the roofs again, watching his surroundings when the younger duelist jumped off his D-Board and landed next to him. For a moment both of them had been quiet, before Soulburner had been able to get himself to ask if Revolver had heard something about Playmaker. The answer had been no. And so both of them had fallen silent again until Soulburner had decided to leave. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And ever since that point he just showed up around him more often. Mostly when Revolver was alone. Definitely not when Stormstriker was around. Revolver was rather sure that there were still some things these two teenagers had to talk about, but he wouldn’t force them to deal with it right now. While having Soulburner around had been a bit awkward at first Hanoi’s leader couldn’t deny that he had grown used to it. Even started to enjoy the younger boys’ presence as they started to talk about more topics than just Playmaker’s whereabouts. It was nice to have someone to talk to that wasn’t involved with Hanoi or SOL. Refreshing. And so he went past the point where he had wondered about what reasons the other one had whenever he asked him about another meeting. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was the day that marked the seventh month mark of Playmaker’s….Yusaku’s disappearance and again the two duelists had met each other, talking mostly about Revolver’s current work and Takeru’s life at school. It wasn’t until Soulburner had compared current school life with the one in Den City, the one with Yusaku around that the younger teen felt quiet again in the middle of his sentence. And while Revolver’s eyes lay on the younger teen, noticing every single change in his expression, he stayed quiet until Soulburner decided to speak up again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you still believe it? That Playmaker… that Yusaku will come back?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s been seven months after all. Seven months since their friend had left to god knows where. On bad days Soulburner was afraid something bad had happened to him. On good days he was able to convince himself that Yusaku had returned to his home. The place he had lived before he had shown up at Den City one day. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes.” Revolver answered almost directly. He didn’t have any doubt in it. Or he didn’t allow himself to doubt it. He had left the younger teen behind before that last duel against the dark Ignis. And ever since he noticed the other had gone missing he couldn’t help but wonder if he should have </span>
  <em>
    <span>stayed</span>
  </em>
  <span>. “I don’t know what exactly he’s searching for but… I’m sure Playmaker will be back once he finds it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He won’t.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A voice cuts into their conversation, familiar yet foreign </span>
  <span>and both duelists couldn’t keep themselves from flinching. Revolver’s eyes had widened slightly in shock, as he was already able to spot the newcomer, but he couldn’t find the voice to speak up. Soulburner, hot headed like always, </span>
  <em>
    <span>could</span>
  </em>
  <span>. “What the hell do you think you…” And he already started to talk before he was even able to turn around. But as soon as he had turned and spotted the other person he froze in his movement, eyes wide. “That’s not…” he whispered instead and it was rather obvious that he wasn’t sure whether he believed what he was seeing or not. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A few meters away from them was standing another duelist. He seemed familiar, like the voice before. Painfully familiar and yet again different. Revolver already had a ‘Playmaker’ on his lips, but he stopped himself from actually saying it. Because the avatar, no matter how similar he looked to the one of their missing friend’s… it still had its differences. And with his entering words the other one probably wasn’t who they thought he was, even though Revolver couldn’t understand </span>
  <em>
    <span>why</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He didn’t seem like a bad copy cat either. Revolver didn’t need to move much to get the user information of the other one to be shown in front of his eyes and as a reaction to them he was frowning slightly. The other’s name wasn’t close to Playmaker at all, but what was getting his interest more was the fact that there wasn't any information about the player inside that account. As if it was just created without a person behind it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Unknown, huh?” he commented eventually. And while he didn’t get any reaction from the stranger, he got one from Soulburner. One he hadn’t expected. “Yusaku… what happened…?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn’t get an immediate reaction from the other one and when it came it wasn’t what Soulburner had expected. The other one shook his head slowly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fujiki Yusaku’s dead.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Those words sounded like a bad joke in the ears of the other two duelists. Even more looking at the fact that Unknown was still standing in front of them. Still seemed too similar to Playmaker’s design. It would explain why the other one had said Playmaker wouldn't return but still. Yusaku couldn’t be dead. Of course they hadn’t heard from him in over half a year but still… </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s not true! Just because he’s somewhere out there to find his new path doesn’t mean you can just go around and say he died!” Well obviously Soulburner had gotten to the conclusion that the other one was some sort of copycat. Not the real one. Revolver wasn’t so sure about it though. After Soulburner’s immediate comment to the other avatar’s username, Pandor had looked up any information concerning that name and Yusaku and by now he knew that Playmaker’s account had that name first. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Even though that guy was talking about Yusaku like a different person… Revolver couldn’t help but wonder if they’re the same person after all. Or more… hoped for it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What happened to you, Yusaku?” It was the second time he used that name while referring to the other one and the reaction to it came immediately with Unknown flinching hard. He wasn’t sure if it were his words as well or the reaction they caused, but Soulburner turned around to him surprised as well. Anger still rather prominent in his face. Right.. with not being connected to Pandor he couldn’t get the information Revolver has but still… the reaction he had shown earlier had already proven that he knew about Playmakers previous account name so… was this really so surprising for him? Or did he not want to see it after what the person had said? It wouldn’t be the first time the younger one got lost in his rage after all… </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why do you care now?” Unknown got both of their full attention again as soon as he had spoken up again, causing Revolver to frown slightly. Whatever had happened… it must have shaken the younger one. No matter how much Ryoken had tried in the past, he never had been able to lose the younger’s trust ever since he found out who he really was. So with him asking a question like that now… he really seemed to be disappointed in Ryoken. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We both know that I always cared.” he replied carefully. After all.. no matter how much he had tried to deny it, Yusaku had always looked right through him. And yet those words caused the other one to laugh. It wasn’t a happy one which caused Soulburner to take a step back so he was now standing next to Revolver instead. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you? Well you didn’t care enough.” Unknown replied once his laughter had died down. “Tell me. Wasn’t it your responsibility to watch the network? Wasn’t it your personal mission to keep tabs on the victims of your father?” The voice was cold at those words and suddenly Revolver couldn’t help but feel like he wouldn’t like what the other one was about to say at all. Soulburner meanwhile had both hands shaking, turned into fists as if he was trying his best to keep himself from launching at the other one and beating the truth out of him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you want to say that I </span>
  <em>
    <span>failed</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” Revolver replied after a while, forced his voice to stay calm, his mask to stay neutral. Failure wasn’t something he was unfamiliar with. Looking back at the past and his doings.. most of the things he had tried to achieve had failed in one way or another. But he really had thought ever since the immediate danger of the Ignis as well as SOL and his own father were gone, that they’d finally be safe. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Suddenly he wasn’t so sure about that anymore. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What else would you call the fact that you didn’t notice three of them disappearing?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The voice was cold, but the meaning of it hurt more than the tone ever could have. For a moment Revolver stopped breathing - not that it mattered in the digital world - and he could hear Pandor’s voice over the com telling him that she was currently looking up the last locations of his father’s victims. In the meantime Revolver looked at Soulburner next to him. He obviously was </span>
  <em>
    <span>fine</span>
  </em>
  <span>, otherwise he wouldn’t be here right now nor would their conversation before be so peaceful. He was rather sure that Spectre and Haruto were okay as well. They had been around just before he had logged into the network and neither of them had planned to leave the ship that day.  So if three were missing, there wasn’t even a question necessary about the </span>
  <em>
    <span>who</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Yet Soulburner asked exactly that one. Unknown’s expression just had turned to an rather empty one and Revolver was rather sure they wouldn’t get the answer from him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fujiki Yusaku.” Revolver replied instead in the end, raising one finger slowly. He couldn’t hide the shaking of his hand, but maybe he wasn’t even trying at this point. The other two names were already on his lips as well, but he waited till he got the confirmation from Pandor. Couldn’t help the shiver that went through his body because how could they... how could </span>
  <em>
    <span>he</span>
  </em>
  <span> have missed this? Slowly another finger was raised. “Sugisaki Miyu.” he added and Soulburner’s face went pale as he noticed which probably would be the last name as well. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No..” It was barely as whisper. A last straw of hope because it couldn’t be. He already had wondered why it had been difficult to reach Kusanagi lately, but he just had turned down any worries with the fact  that the other one probably was spending the time with his brother. Regardless a third finger was raised and the name Soulburner didn’t want to hear was spoken out aloud. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kusanagi Jin.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>So Shoichi hadn’t been responding to his calls because he was yet again searching for his younger brother. Neither of them couldn’t help but wonder when that teen finally would be allowed to rest. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The expression on Unknown’s face had shifted slightly. It was almost as if he was sorry. “You knew about it, but you didn’t care.” he spoke up again, causing Revolver to shake his head because no, he hadn’t known until now. But no word left his lips. “The two are still out there fighting. But Yusaku lost the fight against the pain and the exhaustion. Neither of you cared enough about him to search him.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The words hit hard. Both of them. And while Revolver somehow managed to keep the neutral expression on his face and any emotion out of it, Soulburner wasn’t able to. Pain was clearly visible. Tears forming in his eyes. The whole body of the fiery duelist was shaking. “That’s not true.” he replied, voice quiet at the beginning, but slowly getting louder. “That’s not true! I… </span>
  <em>
    <span>we</span>
  </em>
  <span> cared about him but we thought he was fine!” In the end he was yelling. And eventually he tried to get to the other, to shake him for even saying such words but he didn’t make it far. As soon as he had started to move Unknown had raised a hand and a monster had appeared between them. Neither Revolver nor Soulburner were familiar with it, but Pandor’s update informed Revolver that it was Cyberse. He hadn’t been aware that there were still new ones around after the Ignis vanished. Which… sends his thoughts down another road he didn’t really want to go at all. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who are you then? If you’re so convinced you’re not Yusaku.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Because he was rather sure the other one was. Whatever caused him to say Yusaku died..  maybe it was stupid but Revolver wanted to cling to the hope that Unknown still was Yusaku so much… the teen couldn’t just be dead. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m what’s left. And I’m going to make the world burn for allowing us to suffer like that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There, he actually admitted it. But Revolver wasn’t able to call him out on it, as the strange dragon started to roar loudly before it vanished in red pixels. And with it Unknown did as well. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No wait!” It was Soulburner, yelling again while running forward, trying to catch the disappearing duelist. Eventually he failed, his hand only grabbing a few pixels that just disappeared after being touched. He sunk down to his knees after that, hands still turned to fists before he hit both of them to the ground. “DAMN IT!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>For a while it was quiet between them. Both of them with thousands of thoughts. About Yusaku. About Unknown. About the disappearance of Miyu and Jin. Soulburner failed to understand how all those things could have happened without them noticing. Without anyone noticing. Revolver couldn’t understand why he never seemed to </span>
  <em>
    <span>learn</span>
  </em>
  <span> from his mistakes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Revolver…” It was eventually Soulburner who spoke up again. Without looking up or changing anything about his current position. “What’s going on here? Is… is he really dead? What...what are we going to do now?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The unasked questions probably were ‘what can I do’ and ‘how did I fail to notice’ and honestly Revolver was asking himself the same questions. The data Pandor could gather in the short amount of time was showing clearly that there were several weeks between the disappearance of Yusaku and the one of Sugisaki Miyu. And again a few weeks between her’s and the one of Jin Kusanagi, who indeed only disappeared a week ago.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Things really weren’t supposed to be like this. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll look more into this.” he replied after a while. Eyes still focused at the spot where Unknown had disappeared a few moments before. “I’ll also send someone to pick you up. You shouldn’t stay alone.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?!” That effectively gave him Soulburner’s full attention again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Think about it. Whoever’s behind this kidnapped three of the Lost Incident victims within the last seven months as far as we know.  Spectre and Stormstriker are already with Hanoi and I’d say rather safe on the ship in the middle of the ocean. So who’s probably their next target?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>If Soulburner had been pale before he now was as white as Revolver’s cloak. He didn’t say much anymore, only staring at him, before logging out without saying anything else. </span>
</p><p>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>Revolver followed shortly after. And it didn’t took Ryoken long to enter the main room with the rest of Hanoi present, his face cold yet failing to keep the worry from it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Faust. You’ll go to pick Takeru up and bring him here. Haruto. You’re still in contact with Takeru’s friend right? Inform her to check up on him, I’m not sure that he’s not going to do something stupid.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. [ Three ]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>New week, new chapter : )<br/>I hope you'll enjoy it. Feel free to share your thoughts with me though.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Takeru couldn’t exactly say whether or not this was a good idea - and it probably was </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> - but he was currently sitting on a train way back to Den City. It wasn’t exactly what Revolver had told him to do, but he couldn’t bring himself to sit still and wait to be picked up by a guy that once was involved in not only kidnapping him, but also putting him through months of torture. No matter how much his relationship with Ryoken had changed over the last few weeks… it was still beyond the teen how Spectre and </span>
  <em>
    <span>Haruto </span>
  </em>
  <span>- he still couldn’t believe his childhood friend ended up with Hanoi </span>
  <em>
    <span>as well</span>
  </em>
  <span> - could deal with living with those people to begin with. While he indeed had understood where Revolver was coming from with his suspicion about him being the next target, he couldn’t wait for them to come for him as well as Ryoken’s people. He couldn’t risk dragging his grandparents into this. Couldn’t risk Kiku to be harmed. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Which brought him directly to the next problem. The dark haired girl is currently sitting next to him, asleep with her head rested on his shoulder. It wasn’t like he had </span>
  <em>
    <span>wanted</span>
  </em>
  <span> to take her along. She just didn’t let him have any other choice, telling him something about Haru having told her he was about to do something stupid and he should either stop it or take her along. He really didn’t want to take her along but… staying wasn’t an option either. And his attempt to sneak out on her had failed. So in the end he gave up and allowed her to tag along. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He already had sent Kusanagi a message, telling him that he knew about Jin and that he was on his way back to Den City to help. He could have added so much more to this text but he still was having his difficulties with even typing those few words. So he just hoped that Kusanagi would answer him or call him or </span>
  <em>
    <span>meet</span>
  </em>
  <span> him so they could talk about everything. Takeru was rather well aware of the fact that Kusanagi not only needed the information about Yusaku but </span>
  <em>
    <span>deserved </span>
  </em>
  <span>them as well. Yusaku always had been family to him after all. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Takeru?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Said teen blinked, a bit surprised. Seemed like Kiku was awake again. Tilting his head a bit to the side he managed to look at her from the corner of his eyes without having to move too much. It was enough to spot the worry in her face and he had to stop himself from directly looking away again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What are you going to do once we’re in Den City?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That was a rather good question honestly. He had broken his head about it ever since they had started this journey. A definite answer wasn’t found yet. Even though he had some plans ready already nothing sounded perfect or </span>
  <em>
    <span>safe</span>
  </em>
  <span> but he would go with it anyways. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I wanna check out some of Kusanagi’s usual spots. Need to see if he’s still around. After that… either check up on Zaizen to see if he knows something or join Revolver on his boat.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Which… probably was the first thing he should do. Being on that boat as well would take him away from the danger he currently was in. Kiku as well. And while it wasn’t really Ryoken’s presence he minded - hell not even </span>
  <em>
    <span>Spectre</span>
  </em>
  <span> if he was honest to himself - it was the fact that he hadn’t exchanged more than two words with Haruto ever since he returned to being in his life again. And Hanoi’s commanders who he still couldn’t forgive for their involvement in the Lost Incident. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When he had stopped Revolver from handing himself over to the police… he hadn’t meant the commanders to stay out of prison as well. Compared to Ryoken… they </span>
  <em>
    <span>deserved</span>
  </em>
  <span> to rot in prison as far as Takeru was concerned. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s not what Revolver asked you to do, is it?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He couldn’t keep anything from this girl, could he? “He said I should wait to be picked up but... “ He didn’t end that sentence, instead looking up as a computer voice informed the people on the train about the next stop. Suddenly he was feeling watched. Nervous. It wasn’t until now that he noticed the man that just had entered their part of the train, carefully watching all the people he was passing by. Takeru was rather sure that he had never seen that guy before but… he had a bad feeling about this. It probably was only because the whole situation had him set on alert but still… he couldn’t help but feel threatened by his pure presence. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So while that guy was caught in the people that wanted to leave the train at the next stop Takeru jumped to his feet as well, causing Kiku to startle slightly before looking up to him. “Takeru what..” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We need to go.” he interrupted her, already taking her hand before pulling her on her feet and towards the closer door. He hadn’t felt the urge to run that badly in </span>
  <em>
    <span>years</span>
  </em>
  <span> and for the moment he acted on instinct only. The train had already stopped and people were entering the train. They somehow managed to get out though. Takeru didn’t stop to see whether or not the strange guy left the train as well. Instead he pulled Kiku along, down the stairs and away from the plattform. He hadn’t even paid attention about where the train had currently stopped up so his eyes were searching for some signs that could give him that information while he was almost running through the hall. Kiku was still behind him, her hand in his as he could feel her worried and confused look in his neck. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Takeru what’s wrong? Where are we going?” she asked, probably for the fourth time since they left the train. It wasn’t until now that Takeru allowed himself to slow down, before he let out his breath and looked around for any other suspicious men in their surroundings. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He didn’t notice anyone though. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think that guy’s one of the bad guys.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The bad guys. They didn’t even know who the bad guys were in this. With what Unknown had said before disappearing Takeru somehow felt like he would be a bad guy at some point too, but with the possibility of him really being Yusaku still there… he didn’t want Unknown to become an enemy. On the other side he’d love to know who those guys had been. And he slowly realized a mistake he made. Instead of running he should have stayed. He should have beaten up that guy and forced the information about Yusaku and the others out of him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He had been so close to finding a trace towards his missing friend. And instead of taking it he </span>
  <em>
    <span>ran away</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I’m really a bad friend, am I?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Biting down on his lower lip he shook his head slowly, taking a deep breath before looking around again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Call Haruto. Tell him where we are and that...” He got interrupted by the sound of his phone. Swallowing Takeru pulled the little device from his pocket, halfway expected Ryoken to call him to tell him how stupid it was to leave instead of waiting for his people. Instead he spotted Kusanagi's name on the display and for a moment he couldn’t help but feel relieved by it. It at least meant the other one was okay, right? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Kusanagi-san? Is this you?” he started as soon as he had accepted the call, letting go of Kiku’s hand for a moment. The girl took a closer look at him, before pulling out her own phone calling Haruto to inform him about the change of plans. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah it’s me. Sorry I didn’t see your message sooner, I’m rather busy it’s…” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Jin is missing, I know.” Takeru cut into the others talking, adding a short summary of his and Revolver’s meeting with Unknown. “Kiku and I are on our way to Den City right now but we had to leave the train at… god I don’t even know where we are wait a moment.” he mumbled, before turning around again “Kiku did you…”  he stopped once he noticed that his friend wasn’t anywhere in sight. For a moment his blood ran cold. It couldn’t be. She had been right behind him. She couldn’t have gotten that far.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He shouldn’t have let go of her hand! </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Takeru are you still there? Takeru?” He could faintly hear Kusanagi's voice, which caused him to raise the hand holding his phone again. “Yeah… yeah I’m still here but Kiku… she’s gone. I… I have to search for her.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Takeru wait you need to get somewhere safe. You hear me? Take-” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>At this point Takeru ended the call. He was rather well aware of what the other one had tried to tell him. While it was possible that Kiku just got lost in the mass of people around them it was rather well possible that the guy in the train found her. And in that case she was in danger. But not only her… him as well…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Damn it…” he mumbled before looking up again, trying to call Kiku on her phone only to get informed that she wasn’t reachable right now due to another call. “Kiku? KIKU?!” shouting her name like that was a risk as it could lead the wrong people to him but he still had to try. If she was still on another phone call maybe she was still talking to Haruto. And was just somewhere inside of this crowd, probably searching for him as well? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Kiku where…!”  He stopped shouting as well as moving once he spotted another familiar person. It wasn’t the girl he was looking for, but a rather well-known person though. The other one seemed rather similar to his avatar form, only the color of his suit being different. And if Takeru was honest to himself he never had been so </span>
  <em>
    <span>glad</span>
  </em>
  <span> to see that other teen before. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Spectre?”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. [ Four ]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>It's Tuesday so new chapter ~ &lt;3 </p>
<p>In this one we gonna meet a trio I really grew to like. I'm certainly looking forward writing them together a bit more in the future chapters. </p>
<p>Anyways. I hope all of you are doing fine. People around here felt in some kind of mass panic and it's getting annoying X_X </p>
<p>See you around next week :D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Haruto couldn’t really say that he was surprised about getting a message from Kiku, telling him that Takeru really did do something stupid and that they were on their way to Den City now instead of waiting. He already had informed Ryoken about it and the older teen left for Den City as well afterwards. But still Haru couldn’t help but feel worried about his childhood friends. Maybe that was the reason why he had agreed so easily when Spectre had suggested to find Takeru before he would reach Den City. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In the end it was pure coincidence that the city they had planned to board the train - it was only logical with the ship being at the local harbour - had been the one where Takeru had decided to leave the train. Even more luck that Spectre had spotted the teen running away from the train with Kiku just before they had entered said train. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It hadn’t helped with finding them in the crowd again though. Green eyes were searching up their surroundings hastily. They couldn’t lose Takeru here. Not now. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What should we…” he started, but stopped when his phone started to vibrate. Frowning slightly he pulled it out from his pocket and felt relief flooding him once he spotted Kiku’s name on the display. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s Kiku.” he informed Spectre, who nodded slightly before walking ahead to look for the lost teens while Haruto accepted the call. “Kiku? Where are you?” he started directly, not even giving the girl the chance to say something first. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m not sure? Takeru suddenly left the train. He’s talking with a friend from Den City right now.” the girl replied after a while. A friend? Haruto wasn’t sure, but it probably were either Kusanagi Shoichi or Zaizen Aoi. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Spectre and I saw you two leaving the train. Tell us where exactly you are and we’ll come pick you up.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He could hear her breath out relieved at the information of them being close by. She didn’t even question it. “I’ll see if I can find some street sign or something.” she replied and Haruto nodded slowly, even though she couldn’t see it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But with her moving… Haruto suddenly realized that he hadn’t been able to hear Takeru’s voice, even with him being supposed to be talking right now. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Kiku? Where’s Takeru?” he asked suddenly and it took the girl a while to answer. “He was right behind me.” Past tense. Haruto felt how he started to move again. Spectre was nowhere to be seen anymore either, but the green haired teen barely paid any attention to that. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t know. He’s…” she started, but the next moment she was interrupted by Takeru calling out her name. Haruto actually heard it twice. Over the phone and close by, so Takeru was near and Kiku was as well. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The next moment felt for Haruto like everything happened at once. Kiku tried to call out for their mutual friend, but something or someone stopped her from doing so. The next sound was rather much the phone hitting the ground and from the corner of his eyes he could see a dark blue haired girl being dragged away. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“KIKU!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now it was him shouting out that name, dashing forward to reach the girl. Part of him realized this was stupid. If this person dragging Kiku away was one of those that were after Takeru, they might as well be after him as well. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In the end he couldn’t really say what caused him to stumble, but the next thing he noticed was the pain once his face hit the ground and everything around him went dark. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Spectre couldn’t help but feel like all of this had been a bad idea. Maybe he should have left Haruto behind in the safety of the ship, but the teen had been his own connection to Homura and his little friend. Leaving him out would have caused more problems than taking him along. Or so he thought. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The moment he actually had found Takeru was the one he noticed that Haruto wasn’t behind him anymore. And the girl was gone as well.</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Well…. he could work with that. At least Haru was making it easier for him by suddenly calling out to someone. It was easy to spot him afterwards. And literally watch how he disappeared in the crowd of walking people again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Without thinking about it too long Spectre crossed the distance between himself and Takeru, grabbing his arm before dragging him into the direction he had seen Haruto the last time. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Surprisingly enough the other teen didn’t really complain and just went with him. Spectre wasn’t sure what exactly had caused this whole situation. The fact that the teens had left the train way too early. But he had seen the panic in Homura’s eyes and it told him everything he needed to know right now. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They were close to the spot Haruto had disappeared from their view now and the crowd had lessened. It was then that Takeru freed himself from Spectres grip to run forward, to the person down on the ground that was slowly starting to get up again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Haru!” The childhood nickname basically had slipped Takeru’s lips before he had realized it and he probably would deny it ever happened later. But for now he was helping the other teen to get back on his feet. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The first thing Spectre noted was the blood running down Haruto’s face and obviously he had hit his head a bit too hard when he fell to the ground. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Where’s Kiku? Is she alright? She was right there.” the green haired teen started as soon as he found himself standing safe under Takerus grip again. His words caused Takeru to pale visibly, because the spot his former friend was pointing at was empty. Kiku was nowhere to be seen. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We need to find her” he declared that next moment and was ready to bolt forward again. Spectre’s grip on his shoulder was stopping him rather soon though. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Let me go.” Takeru’s voice alone sounded like a threat, yet Spectre didn’t even bother with reacting in any way. “We’re going back to the ship.” the older teen decided, causing both other teens to look at him like he had a second head attached to his shoulders. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We can’t! We need to find Kiku!” “We can’t leave Kiku behind!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A sigh left his lips as both teens spoke up at the same time. At this point it became rather clear that both of them had been rather close to the girl once. But it didn’t change anything about Spectre's decision at all. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We came here for Homura. Your friend obviously isn’t here anymore. Wasting more time searching here would put all of us in more danger than necessary.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Takeru obviously wasn’t happy with those words though. Fury in his eyes that seemed so out of place. Yet he stayed quiet, even though Haru had been convinced he had to stop Takeru from beating Spectre up right now. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But it seemed like Takeru had gotten the message. Three of them were already missing. The three of them left being at the same place already was risky. Being in a public place like this was making it even more so. EVen though all of this understanding didn’t mean Takeru was okay with leaving his friend behind. Thanks to Unknown’s words he was already blaming himself for letting Yusaku down. He couldn’t let Kiku down as well. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>On the other side… who was he to decide that Kiku deserved his help more than Yusaku? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He couldn’t find an answer and Haruto caused him to stop thinking about it at all with simply collapsing even though he was still held by him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Haruto?!” </span>
</p>
<p><span>Spectre wasn’t sure what exactly had caused Haru to collapse right now. The bruise on his face hadn’t seemed to be </span><em><span>that</span></em> <span>bad, but for now he didn’t question it. The worry Takeru showed openly for his former friend showed all too clear how much he cared even ten years later. And it gave him the perfect opportunity to convince Takeru to go to the ship for now so Haruto could get some treatment. </span></p>
<p>
  <span>Part of Spectre wondered if Haruto had known about that. If he just had gone ahead pretending to have fainted so Takeru would stop arguing for now.  Seeing how fast he was feeling better again once all of them were safe on the ship and Genome and Aso had started to search for Kiku, Spectre was almost convinced it had been nothing more than an act. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. [ Five ]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>They had taken Ai from him, but he wouldn’t let them take this new AI from him as well. And if he had to destroy humanity to protect them he would gladly do so. Ai had been ready to go this far for him. And Unknown wouldn’t sit and watch how things repeated itself. Even if it would mean he had to turn against his former friends as well. </p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Here we go again and welcome to everyone who's still with me or who joined me on this adventure recently. <br/>This chapter actually is one of my favorite parts of this story, because it's a bit more about Yusaku's side after we spend the last few chapters with the others. </p>
<p>I'd love to read your thoughts about it tho so feel free to write me what you think about it this far?</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>A sigh left Unknown’s lips as he let himself sink down against the wall of the room he had appeared in. It wasn’t any special room, just one big empty grey room created in a private server that he could hide himself in. He wasn’t ready to log out again yet, but after facing Revolver and Soulburner… it had been harder than he had expected, that much was sure. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It wasn’t like he regretted his decision.  Even though it had been rather obvious that he had hurt not only Soulburner but Revolver as well with his words he was rather sure that he wouldn’t take them back. As far as he was concerned Yusaku was dead. There wasn’t much left that had kept him tied to that life. After all, he had lost Ai. And while he hadn’t even gotten the chance to actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>grieve </span>
  </em>
  <span>about the loss everyone else seemed like they had continued with their life. Kusanagi had Jin until he failed to protect him. Takeru had returned to his hometown. Even Ryoken had another task, a new path he could follow and no one had stopped and wondered what had happened to him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ai had left him. Had sacrificed himself because he had wanted to protect him. Thinking about it like that made a sad smile find its way to his face. After all… if the Ignis had left him with the choice Unknown would have prefered death compared to living through this hell of the Lost Incident yet again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The only good thing that came from it was the new AI that was created. Unknown hadn’t been sure what exactly these people wanted from these AI’s but he was rather sure that it wasn’t anything good. And that he wouldn’t let them. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They had taken Ai from him, but he wouldn’t let them take this new AI from him as well. And if he had to destroy humanity to protect them he would gladly do so. Ai had been ready to go this far for him. And Unknown wouldn’t sit and watch how things repeated itself. Even if it would mean he had to turn against his former friends as well. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re okay?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was a quiet voice that pulled him out of his thoughts. Looking down at his duel disk he spotted the tiny Ai looking up to him with big eyes. It was a familiar feeling somehow, reminding him a lot of the time where Ai had still been with him. But those times were over. The small black Ignis with golden accents that was now living in his duel disk didn’t have a name yet. Mostly because Unknown hadn’t really thought about it much, but it hadn’t introduced itself with a name so… did he really had none or was it just because they hadn’t talked that much yet? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When the smaller being had appeared in his life Unknown...Yusaku had been ready to give up. Maybe he did in some way. He wasn’t fighting to get his life back anymore. Yet again </span>
  <em>
    <span>revenge </span>
  </em>
  <span>was what gave him a reason to move on. Revenge, and the will to protect the little one at his side. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hm… just lost in my thoughts.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you thinking about Ai again?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Again Unknown blinked, part of him wondering whether the tiny AI was able to be jealous or not. It almost sounded like it, that much was sure. And while Ai certainly had been part of his thoughts as well he found himself shaking his head slowly. “Not really... I mean somewhat, yeah. But not only about him.” he replied in the end, slowly raising his other hand to poke the tiny figure carefully. “Mostly about how I won’t let things repeat themselves again. They won’t take you away as well. You won’t have to suffer like Ai did. I’ll protect you.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It certainly wasn’t what the tiny AI had expected to hear, at least if its wide eyes were any indication. For a moment neither of them said anything. It probably was only several minutes after that the tiny AI raised its voice again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I won’t let anyone hurt you again. Not as long as I’m at your side.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Unknown couldn’t fight back the tears that appeared at the corner of his eyes upon hearing those words. They hadn’t known each other for that long, but it was impressive how far the other one was already going for him. Not only that the AI somehow had managed to give him an escape into Link VRAINS, it really seemed like it </span>
  <em>
    <span>cared </span>
  </em>
  <span>about him. Actually he couldn’t tell since when the other one had been aware enough to watch him, but it seemed like it had been long enough for creating a bond that reminded him of the one he had with Ai, if only for a short time. And this time…. this time he would do it right. He wouldn’t treat the other one like a hostage but like a friend. And he would protect him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Say...do you have a name?” he asked after a while, tilting his head to the side. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The reply he immediately got was a blink from the smaller one. “A name? Like… Unknown or Yusaku?” it replied eventually, which caused Yusaku to blink as well. Was…. the other one not even aware of that? “Yeah it is.” he replied rather soon, because he didn’t want the other one to feel bad because he didn’t know the answer. “Or like Ai. Something that belongs just to you. Others can call you that. Or talk about you.” he added eventually. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Again the AI stayed quiet, before it shook his head. “I think I don’t have a name?”  Well… at this point Unknown almost expected as much. Quietly he hummed, before he showed the other one a smile. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We should find a name for you then.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Huh?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Unknown nodded again, a smile still on his face but determination shining in his green eyes. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How about Chaos? Because that’s what we’ll bring to the world.” </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. [ Six ]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>And he had been. Up until that one fateful day a week ago when Jin suddenly wasn’t around anymore. And Kusanagi couldn’t help but blame himself. Because if he had paid more attention to his brother, if he hadn’t been so busy with the hot dog truck and it’s customers…. maybe he would have noticed when Jin had left his spot in front of the truck. When exactly he had wandered away - and why - and never returned.  </p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Here's the next chapter~</p><p>honestly life is just so strange and chaotic right now I almost forgot about it &gt;.&lt;<br/>I'm currently working more on my big bang entry than on this story, but I still try to keep the update schedule regular. Depending on how that will go I might change to every two weeks like I originally planned though. I can't really tell right now cause it's kinda depending how this whole corona situation will go on as currently my workplace is in a emergency situation and no one really knows what's going to happen next xx </p><p>Enjoy the pov of yet another character while I'll suffer with some duels to write I guess?</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Kusanagi couldn’t say what exactly had gone wrong. Besides the fact that Yusaku still hadn’t returned home things had become rather normal. Almost </span>
  <em>
    <span>good</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Jin had started to become so alive again, as if the last ten years never had happened with his memories of the Lost Incident gone. But if he had been honest to himself.. he never had figured out if Jin really had forgotten everything. And if he had forgotten about Lightning as well, because he hadn’t dared to ask, scared to raise some questions he didn’t want answers to. And Jin never spoke about it either. So he just started to believe he couldn’t remember. In the end it wasn’t important, because Jin had become so happy. He even had been able to leave the hospital. To live with him again. To work with him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>If he was honest to himself he had tried to keep Jin around himself as much as possible. After everything his brother had gone through over the last decade… Shoichi just wanted to be sure that nothing happened to the other one. That he was safe. Happy. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And he had been. Up until that one fateful day a week ago when Jin suddenly wasn’t around anymore. And Kusanagi couldn’t help but blame himself. Because if he had paid more attention to his brother, if he hadn’t been so busy with the hot dog truck and it’s customers…. maybe he would have noticed when Jin had left his spot in front of the truck. When exactly he had wandered away - and </span>
  <em>
    <span>why </span>
  </em>
  <span>- </span>
  <span>and never returned.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>What followed was some almost frantic searching for the younger one. One in which he even got Emma involved, even if that was more because she just happened to be around when he first noticed his brother’s disappearance and hadn’t left his side ever since. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He knew that he had gotten some messages from Takeru. The teen even had tried to call him once, but Kusanagi hadn't found the strength to answer the call. He had been tired and working without a break just to find his brother again. </span>
</p><p><span>The first clue actually wasn’t one he had found himself. It had been Emma, who had passed by that morning, telling him that she couldn’t tell him any new information about Jin, but that Aoi’s friend Miyu seemed to be missing for weeks now as well. Aoi was on a hunt for more information herself for weeks now, but she was running from one dead end to another. It seemed like Miyu had left her home already years ago. And finding any clue about her whereabouts had turned about rather difficult. One familiar name had shown up in their search though. </span><em><span>Kogami Ryoken</span></em><span>. As he had been the one who paid for Miyu’s last hospital stay. Emma and Aoi both had their own suspicions about why Hanoi’s leader had paid for that, but Aoi hadn’t managed to meet up with him yet to ask him about it and somehow Emma was rather sure that Aoi wouldn’t be anything close to successful until Revolver decided that he </span><em><span>wanted</span></em> <span>to be found. </span></p><p><span>But with the information that not only Jin but Miyu - another victim of the Lost Incident - as well had been missing…he couldn’t exactly tell what it made him feel but he was definitely worried about Yusaku and Takeru at that moment. Which reminded him of all those messages he had gotten from the younger one. That he just had </span><em><span>ignored</span></em> <span>in his attempt to find his brother. </span></p><p><span>Soon after he had checked those messages again. At first it were just random messages, most of them proving that Takeru still wasn’t really used to write text messages. It was the last one that got his attention directly, that actually led to him </span><em><span>calling</span></em> <span>the teen directly. </span></p><p>
  <em>
    <span>|| Something had happened to Yusaku. On my way to Den City. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>The talk with Takeru that followed had been rather short. But informative. And it was worrying him even more. Not only that Yusaku seemed to be involved as well… the fact that some duelist that seemed to have looked rather similar to Playmaker had said Yusaku had died caused red flags to flare up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They should have searched for him. They should have gone ahead searching for the teen instead of waiting for his return. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Takeru ended the call rather abruptly and Kusanagi couldn’t help but worry about him. As far as he knew the younger one was on his way here, but whoever had taken Jin and Yusaku away seemed to be after Takeru as well and.. there was nothing he would be able to do if the one responsible already had found Takeru on his way. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was stuck with waiting. And it wasn’t a feeling he liked. But it didn’t stay that much either, as upcoming steps were informing him that someone was coming close. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re out of service today, I’m sorry but I can’t help you.” he started to speak up as soon as the steps had stopped close by, without even looking up. Otherwise he probably would have something else. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ryoken was watching the other one for a moment, before shaking his head slightly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s okay. I’m not here for food. And you might be able to help me more than you think.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was neither the voice nor the words Kusanagi had expected at this moment and his head went up, staring at the newcomer for a while. “You…” he managed to say eventually. He was aware of the fact that Aoi had been trying to hunt the other one down but… he hadn’t expected him to come to him of all people. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What can I do to help?”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>As always comments and reactions are welcome, even if it's only to yell at me x'D</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. [ Seven ]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>There was a reason why he had told Revolver and Soulburner he had died after all. So having them believe that was just helpful to his plans right now. Even more so because they currently were discussing how to get rid of his ‘corpse’. They would practically carry him out of here and Yusaku wouldn’t really complain when it wasn’t about the fact that Miyu and Jin were here as well. So it was finally time to fight back. </p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>New Chapter, yet again one from Yusaku's POV. </p>
<p>We're currently living in crazy times, aren't we? Things at work are still weird and chaotic at it's best. Let's hope this mess will be over again soon. Until then I have a bit more time for writing as my working hours had been cut down and I'm forced to take a day off each week : / </p>
<p>I actually wrote a big part that will come later in this story ( later like... nearly at the end later ) and I can't wait to reach that point cause I want to share it so much? But until then I have a few (lot) duels on my list that want to be written and the YGO Big Bang is sitting there waiting for me as well. </p>
<p>Also this actually are two chapters / parts? But looking at the Yusaku one it seemed too short for a stand alone chapter so there's the next one directly included in this one. Well that one as a bit longer so... sorry for a longer chapter then usual I guess? </p>
<p>Stay safe everyone. Stay healthy. And have fun with this chapter. As always reactions / comments / kudo's everything's appreciated &lt;3 </p>
<p>also I updated the tags. I'm not sure if that was really necessary but better safe than sorry I guess?</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Waking up again had been harder than Yusaku had expected. He couldn’t really tell how long he had been online. Probably because he had lost his sense of time already before Chaos logged him into Link VRAINS. In the end Yusaku wouldn’t care if his body wouldn’t be so weak because of it. </p>
<p>Surprisingly there had been voices when he had woken up again and for awhile he just pretended to still be unconscious, carefully listening to what those guys had to say.  Apparently they thought he had died. If Yusaku was honest to himself he couldn’t actually blame them for coming to that conclusion with how he probably had seemed rather dead with not moving at all for what probably was days. There was a reason why he had told Revolver and Soulburner he had died after all. So having them believe that was just helpful to his plans right now. Even more so because they currently were discussing how to get rid of his ‘corpse’. They would practically carry him out of here and Yusaku wouldn’t really complain when it wasn’t about the fact that Miyu and Jin were here as well. So it was <em> finally </em> time to fight back. </p>
<p>Staying still right where he was the teen waiting for one of these guys to pick him up. It didn’t take them that long anymore and he felt how he was lifted up from the ground. </p>
<p>‘<em> Wait. Not yet.’ </em> </p>
<p>He was already used to hearing Chaos’ voice inside of his head, so he didn’t show any reaction to it on the outside. He just needed to make sure that they wouldn’t notice his acting before the right time came. Which… wasn’t as easy as he had imagined either. Because every single part of him was against being close to the people that put him here after everything that had happened before he had been thrown into this room. But he had to stay strong. Just a little bit longer. A tiny little bit. </p>
<p>‘<em> Now. </em>’</p>
<p>Once he got the command from the AI Yusaku acted as fast as his body was allowing him in his current condition. It was fast enough though, as neither of the men had expected him to move again at all, so they were completely caught off guard when Yusaku started to move, knocking out the guy carrying him with a fast move he hadn’t used in <em>years</em> now but that his body gladly still remembered. </p>
<p>As much as he had tried to cut his ties to his past.. some things he learned at that place definitely turned out to be useful again. The other guy surprised about the sudden movement behind him had turned around the moment Yusaku had found himself back on his own feet again, staring at him like he was a ghost, before the guy’s eyes wandered down to his knocked out companion as if he was struggling to understand what just had happened. </p>
<p>Well… Yusaku hadn’t planned on giving him the time to understand that and so he was launching himself at the other one as well, hitting him right in the face with all force he could gather. It probably was more the surprise that caused the other one to stumble back, against the door frame behind him. The green eyed teen didn’t really give him the time to reconsider, acting instead by throwing himself against him, trying to go for the weak spots again and luck actually was at Yusaku’s side for once as it didn’t take that much to knock the other guy out as well. </p>
<p>Now placing both of them in his cell instead he takes some time to check the guys for their phones and more important <em> weapons </em> . He wasn’t as naive enough to believe that these two had been the only one around here. No, looking at them closer now he was rather sure that neither of them had been around when those guys had tortured him for information about Ai and the other Ignis. It was rather much possible that those guys had left this place behind already, leaving the dirty work to some lower guys but still. He wasn’t going to trust that there weren’t other people. In the end he picked up some knives and an actual gun. It wasn’t much but at least something he could work with, even though he never had held a gun in his life before and the knife… well there had been a time he had stabbed someone <em> by accident </em>. It felt like another life as well. Back with the other guys… sometimes Yusaku wondered if it had been better for him to just stay with them instead seeking out revenge but breaking his head about it now wouldn’t help him anymore. He couldn’t change the past after all. </p>
<p>When he stumbled in the main room outside of his cells he rather soon noticed that he was alone there after all. Seemed like luck was on his side for once. Or at least he had thought so because as soon as he had allowed himself to relax for a bit and closed his eyes for a moment to collect his strength he could hear another door open and an irritated “What are you doing here?” soon after. Eyes went wide open again, looking at the guy that was still standing in the door, but probably had understood what had happened sooner than Yusaku had hoped for. The next thing he noticed was the other one getting closer to him and eventually he acted without really thinking about it. The gun still in a shaky grip he raised his hand. Then suddenly there was a loud bang. Yusaku felt himself stumbling a few steps back until he hit against the chair and dropped back on his knees. The other guy was dropping down to the ground as well, but he wasn’t moving afterwards. Instead there was something red shimmering on the ground under him. Yusaku’s eyes were still wide open, now in shock. Did he… did he actually <em>kill</em> someone? </p>
<p>‘<em> Better him than you.’ </em> </p>
<p>Hm… he couldn’t deny that Chaos was right with that. But still… While his body was slowly starting to feel numb the teen wondered if he should worry more about the fact that he had just shot someone. But there was nothing, just an empty feeling and maybe… maybe it really was better like that. </p>
<p>‘<em> No break. We’re not done yet’ </em></p>
<p>Right. Right. The others. Yusaku forced himself to open his eyes again, avoiding to look where the other guy was laying on the ground before he started to move back into the direction his cell had been. The others should be close by after all. Hopefully. Honestly Yusaku could only hope that they were all kept at the same place again just like back then. </p>
<p>The way seemed endless to him. Every step hurt and he was getting more and more tired. How long had he been passed out? How much time had passed since he had gotten some food the last time? Yusaku wasn’t sure about it, but he was rather sure that he should change something about that soon. Otherwise he would die for real this time. And that wasn’t an option right now either. He still was out for revenge. And like last time this thought was giving him more strength than his body in this state was supposed to have. </p>
<p>It had felt like an eternity to him but eventually the teen had reached another door. It wasn’t that difficult to open it and soon later he could spot a young teenage girl sitting at the ground, watching him with wide eyes. </p>
<p>“You are... ?” she started , but Yusaku didn’t manage to say anything as his legs gave up beneath him. He had lost his coincidence before he even had hit the ground. </p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Ryoken wasn’t really happy with the current situation. That much wasn’t any secret. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When he had returned nearly a week ago he was first greeted with a bright white bandage around Harutos head and actually… no, he didn’t want to know what happened. Because he was rather well aware that he did something he hadn’t been supposed to do. And he would bet on the fact that Spectre was involved as well. </span>
</p>
<p><span>Whatever it was that they did… at least it had ended with Takeru being on the ship as well, even though he seemed to be anything but happy. And rather fast he learned that while Takeru made it here more or less safe his friend - girlfriend? Ryoken hadn’t </span><em><span>dared</span></em> <span>to ask yet - had gone missing. </span></p>
<p>
  <span>The reason behind Kiku’s disappearance was still unknown to them though. Had she just been kidnapped to lure Takeru to a trap? Or had there been any other intention? Ryoken had thought that they were after the Lost Incident victims but right now he wasn’t so sure if they weren’t making exceptions in this either. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>If his apprehension was right - and actually he really, really hoped it was </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> - then they were trying to recreate the Lost Incident. He hadn’t spoken about that one with anyone yet though. He wasn’t sure how many conclusions Takeru had made from the talk they had with Unknown, but even if he had a thought like that before he was busy with being worried not only for Yusaku and Jin but Kiku as well and hadn’t found the time to think about what it could mean for his friend yet. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>If Ryoken was right Kiku was going through the same hell than Takeru did back then. The same Yusaku and the other two were going through </span>
  <em>
    <span>again</span>
  </em>
  <span>. And again Ryoken couldn’t stop himself from asking how he could have failed so hard. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He should have noticed something sooner. Of course he had noticed that Yusaku had vanished after his duel with Ai. But he always had thought it was because he needed time. Ai had been important to the teen, even Ryoken had to admit that. And losing him.. he deserved every break he wanted to take. That it wasn’t on his own will… it wasn’t a possibility Ryoken had deemed possible. And now Yusaku was paying the price for it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Miyus disappearance… okay he had paid for her hospital treatment, but as soon as she had left that one again it was rather hard to track her down with her current style of living. And Ryoken would lie if he’d say he hadn’t thought about offering the girl a place to stay on this ship if only to get her away from the streets. He had kinda hoped that Aoi would convince her to move in with her and her brother first but… seemed like he had been wrong here as well. </span>
</p>
<p><span>And Jin… he actually didn’t allow himself to think about the younger Kusanagi brother too much. It would only prove to him how much he had failed in keeping the kids he had sworn to protect safe. How much he had failed </span><em><span>Yusaku</span></em> <span>once again.  It was actually kinda funny. The younger one had forgiven him for so much already, that Ryoken actually had forgotten about the fact that there could be a time where he wouldn’t forgive him that easily anymore. Seemed like that time had come. </span></p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t like that look on your face.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ryoken raised an eyebrow slightly, before looking up at the younger teen that had entered his room as well. It was… strange. Because while he had gotten used to having Soulburner around online it was something completely different with having him here in the real world. It wasn’t really that he </span>
  <em>
    <span>mind</span>
  </em>
  <span> it though. It was… refreshing. Most likely because the others around here mostly were too loyal to him to argue with him or say something against his plans. The only exception had been Haru who was doing so less and less though. Oh and Spectre of course. His friend always said what was on his mind no matter whether or not he was asked for it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And why is that so?” he replied after a while, head slightly tilted to the side. Takeru huffed slightly, before he walked over to him, arms crossed in front of his chest. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Because you look like you’re blaming yourself for all of this again.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And when exactly did Takeru of all people start to look right through him like that?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You think it’s not my fault?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For a moment the younger one felt silent, watching him closely before shaking his head, arms dropping to his side. “I don’t know about Miyu or Jin but… that what happened with Yusaku is my fault as much as yours cause I went home instead of looking for him.” he replied after a while, a rather painful expression appearing on his face. “And if I hadn’t allowed Kiku to come with me she would be safely at home. So that’s more my fault than yours obviously.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It actually was funny. Because no matter how Ryoken tends to blame himself for everything he barely could stand others doing the same. Watching the younger teen closely he wanted to say something against it. Wanted to lift the guilt from his shoulders. But there was nothing he could say against it. Takeru was right when he said they all failed when it came to Yusaku. And Kiku.. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If I hadn’t told Haruto to inform Kiku about what happened she wouldn’t have been able to tag along with you in the first place. You’re sure it’s more your fault?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He didn’t get any answer to that, but the expression on the younger one's face was showing him rather clearly that the other one was angry. Whether it was at him or at himself… Ryoken couldn’t tell. But maybe it was better like that. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For a while there was silence between them. Probably because Takeru still owe him that reply and Ryoken wasn’t so sure what to say at all. In the end the younger one seemed to have decided to let the question about the guilt drop like that, as when he spoke up he brought up another, not less painful topic. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Did you find any clues about their whereabouts?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now it was Ryoken’s turn to avoid answering. Because the truth was he had not. He had tried a lot though. Trying to figure out where Unknown had logged in from had been one of those things, as well as looking into people who knew about the Lost Incident </span>
  <em>
    <span>and</span>
  </em>
  <span> were in a position to organize another kidnapping like that without causing too much attention. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We haven’t been able to find anything yet. But we could cut down the list of people that most likely are behind it.” he replied eventually, carefully choosing his words as he was rather well aware of the fact that Takeru wouldn’t like it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do we know where those people are? Can they tell us where they’re keeping them?”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Takeru’s questions were only logical in this situation, but Ryoken found himself having some problems with outright telling him the answers he was rather sure about. No they didn’t know where exactly those people were. Maybe they were able to tell them where they kept Yusaku and the others, but they had to find them first. And with how certain Unknown had said Yusaku was dead… Ryoken couldn’t help but feel like their time was running out. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, we…” he didn’t manage to add any explanation. Any other information as he was interrupted by the opening door and Haruto rushing in the room, not even paying attention to the fact that he should have knocked or be sorry for the interruption to begin with. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Instead his eyes were open wide and he was panting slightly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We found a growing part of the Ignis algorithm inside of Link VRAINS.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. [ Eight ]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“Where’s Yusaku?” he asked before Takeru could even open his mouth to ask for Flame. The reaction came instantly. Takeru’s face went pale and he started to shake slightly. “I.. I can’t.” he mumbled after a while. It made no sense to Ai, but suddenly he felt like something had happened. Something he didn’t want to hear. He was spared of it for a moment, as Takeru had turned around leaving the room as soon as those words had left his lips. The teen Ai was still rather sure that he had never seen him before was following him with a worried “Takeru.” and soon enough he was alone with Ryoken. Revolver. But Ai couldn’t let himself get irritated by that fact right now. Something was up with Yusaku. And Ryoken would be able to tell him what. </p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>And with this a new player joines the teams. I actually was looking forward this meeting so much because I just love writing these two together. </p>
<p>I hope all of you are okay even with the current situation. It's getting on me slowly and I'm no doing good atm but I'm trying my best to keep on going somehow. </p>
<p>Let's hope this will be over soon X_x </p>
<p>See you around next week I guess~ &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The first thought Ai had after his conscience was being awake again was that this couldn’t be </span>
  <em>
    <span>possible</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He had died. He had been rather certain about this and he had been even more okay with it as it had meant Yusaku would be safe.  That he now was awake again hadn’t been part of his plan. Hadn’t been supposed to happen </span>
  <em>
    <span>at all</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So the first thing he did was lowkey freaking out about the fact that he obviously was too stupid to end his own existence probably. Why had it failed? And on the other side.. why wasn’t he allowed to just die while all of his family wasn’t allowed to live? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Once he had calmed down from that one he focused on the more important things. It wasn’t until then that he noticed that he was back in his eye form. So his data obviously had been damaged badly but part of it had survived. Ai cursed this small amount of data for being so stubborn still, but part of him wondered if something similar had happened to the others as well. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As the Ignis hadn’t returned after the defeat of Bohman… Ai had been head over in those simulations Lightning had left him, dived directly into his desperate attempt to prevent that future from happening. He never once had thought about the possibility of small fragments of his friends still being left. If he could find them… would he be able to bring them back as well? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Which brought him to a more important problem. He was reduced to being just an eye. Of course that didn’t mean he was helpless. He already had managed to run away from Hanoi in this form for five years after all. He had been able to guide Yusaku to the Cyberse deck. He had been able to do stuff but… </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After all the time he hadn’t been alone </span>
  <em>
    <span>being alone again </span>
  </em>
  <span> was what hurt him the most. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But Yusaku was better off without him. That much was sure. Every single detail of the thousands of simulations he had watched was still right there. He could see them all clear in front of his eye. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Going back to him would only cause everything he did to be in vain. But if he could find some traces for the others… if he wasn't the only Ignis left. Maybe there was a future out there he hadn’t seen yet. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With this decision he was about to try to pay more attention to his surroundings. He was currently floating, like at that one time when he had drifted off during Playmakers duel with Revolver. Part of him wondered if it was the same ocean and if he could escape the same way than back then. But on the other side… he had no clue how he had escaped from there back then. It was his connection to Playmaker that had guided him after all. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Seems like he had to figure it out alone this time. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Or so he thought because he only had made that thought when his surroundings started to change again and Ai felt like he fell asleep again. Or more...woke up? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Because the next time he opened his eyes he was staring at the rather familiar sign of Kogami Ryoken and it definitely wasn’t what he had expected. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Heee?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For a moment there was silence between them. Ai somehow expected Hanoi’s leader to say something. Anything. And if it only was a threat like he used to do. On the other side… he remembered Pandor and how she presented him with a way to escape. He wasn’t stupid. He had known that Revolver was aware of it. He just never had been able to understand </span>
  <em>
    <span>why </span>
  </em>
  <span>he wasn’t doing anything against it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Looking now at the fact how Ryoken was looking down at him… face empty of most emotions but some glint of -  Ai wasn’t sure what to name it, because he probably would have called it </span>
  <em>
    <span>guilt </span>
  </em>
  <span>but there was no way </span>
  <em>
    <span>Revolver</span>
  </em>
  <span> of all people would look at him like that - something. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The silence stayed. Until Ai couldn’t stand it anymore. “Are you gonna say something?” Well those words at least caused some kind of reaction from the other one, a slight twitch of his eyebrow, before he looked up at someone else in the room and it was the first time Ai realized that he wasn’t alone with the other one. </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Looking in the same direction Ai kinda expected to spot the rest of Hanoi standing there. Instead he was greeted with a boy he hadn’t seen before and… </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Takeru? What are you doing here?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After all… even if he had witnessed the duel between Soulburner and Revolver, seeing the other teen in the same room as Ryoken while being calm instead of all angry and raging was… something.  Once he had been spoken to something in Takeru’s face had changed. There was some painful expression in him and somehow Ai expected him to ask if Flame was still around as well. Which brought him to notice another detail. Looking around he couldn’t spot anyone else beside Ryoken, Takeru and the unfamiliar teen. That’s not right. There should be someone else. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Where’s Yusaku?” he asked before Takeru could even open his mouth to ask for Flame. The reaction came instantly. Takeru’s face went pale and he started to shake slightly. “I.. I can’t.” he mumbled after a while. It made no sense to Ai, but suddenly he felt like something had happened. Something he didn’t want to hear. He was spared of it for a moment, as Takeru had turned around leaving the room as soon as those words had left his lips. The teen Ai was still rather sure that he had never seen him before was following him with a worried “Takeru.” and soon enough he was alone with Ryoken. Revolver. But Ai couldn’t let himself get irritated by that fact right now. Something was up with Yusaku. And Ryoken would be able to tell him what. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey... Revolver. Where’s .... Where </span>
  <em>
    <span>is</span>
  </em>
  <span> Yusaku?”  he asked again, slowly. Suddenly the little AI wasn’t sure if he wanted to know at all but he needed to know. Needed to know where his origin was. He might only be an eye but he wasn’t stupid. Something was wrong and something had happened to Yusaku. The white haired teen next to him was looking was proving that all too much. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I was hoping you could tell me that.” was the answer he got in the end. Ryoken’s voice was calm, but the expression in his eyes wasn’t calm at all. Ai didn’t liked that answer. Not at all. “Me? I haven’t seen Yusaku since….” well he couldn’t say it. It wasn’t necessary though as Ryoken knew what he meant to say. It wasn’t helpful though. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well you’re the last one who saw him though?” Ryoken replied, shaking his head slightly. If Ai’s data had been complete he probably would have jumped out of the duel disk - whose was it anyways? - at that point but he couldn’t. “What?! But weeks must have passed since then! How could none of you …”  he demanded to know and he probably would have added more but one look of Ryoken actually got him to fall silence again. If Ai had thought there was guilt in the other’s eyes before it was now even clearer. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Seven months and three weeks if you want to know the exact time, but it doesn’t change anything about the fact that he never returned from that duel.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But Ai couldn’t understand why. Why had Yusaku not returned? Of course Yusaku had been devastated and sad but he had his friends. It had been okay for him to return home so why didn’t he? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Soulburner and I met a duelist inside of Link VRAINS with the username Unknown. He’s appearance was rather similar to Playmaker’s just with other colors.” the white haired teen added after a while, causing Ai to look up again. The name sounded rather familiar. And with a similar appearance. Ai couldn’t understand why Yusaku would change colors and name of his avatar, but at least it meant they had met him right? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If you meet him why didn’t you ask where he is?” he had meant to ask, but he didn’t even get that far as Ryoken decided to speak up again without giving him a chance to answer anything. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Unknown told us Yusaku died.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>At those words Ai felt like his world just shattered into a thousand pieces. It couldn’t be true. Yusaku couldn’t be dead just like that, even more with </span>
  <em>
    <span>Unknown</span>
  </em>
  <span> being the one that had stated that news. The Ignis wasn’t sure how much Ryoken knew about Yusaku’s previous accounts in Link VRAINS, but for Ai who knew all about it, this sentence just made no sense. Or was it his desperate wish for Yusaku to be alright and </span>
  <em>
    <span>alive</span>
  </em>
  <span> out there that clouded his judgement here? The one thing Ai knew for sure was that the teen in front of him wouldn’t make any jokes of something like that. But even with knowing that Ai just couldn’t bring himself to believe his origin was dead.Yusaku just couldn’t be. Not after everything he had done to prevent exactly this from happening. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You can’t tell me you actually believed that.” Ai replied in the end. An almost desperate attempt to convince himself that he wasn’t the only one who didn’t want to believe Yusaku died. If Ryoken was thinking Unknown lied as well.. it would make it far more possible that his origin actually was still around out there somewhere. They just had to find him. And ask him what this bullshit with ‘had died’ should mean. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ryoken stayed quiet for a while and part of Ai feared it was because he was thinking about how to tell him some disappointing news without making it hurt too much. But then he realized that he still was talking with Ryoken - Revolver - Kogami himself and that this guy didn’t have any reason to spare him from pain. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I asked him who he is if Yusaku really is dead.” Ryoken started after a while, icy blue eyes now focused on Ai alone now that they were alone in the room. “He said he’s what’s left. So I’m rather sure he actually is Yusaku. But something did happen that hurt him. Something that caused him to seek out revenge once again.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>While Ai had felt something like relief bubbling up in his code once he heard that Ryoken actually believed Yusaku to be out there, the feeling disappeared soon enough again when the other one continued. The thought of his origin being hurt doesn’t feel nice to the AI and the fact that he was looking for revenge again? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But who is he after this time?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Again Ryoken was silent, thinking back to the day they had met Unknown in the network. The face full of so many emotions and yet none at all. The strange cyberse dragon. And the message Unknown had left them before disappearing. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>‘And I’m going to make the world burn for allowing us to suffer like that.’</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I fear it’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>humanity</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. [ Nine ]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>While things already have been interesting with Haruto and Takeru on the same boat, they got so even more after Ai joined their team. Even if the AI currently was reduced to being an eye, he liked to comment on anything and everything and tend to get on a few nerves with it. Ryoken suspected that it was because he didn’t want to get time to think about Yusaku, but despite everything he didn’t asked him about it. He tried to avoid thinking too much about the missing teen as well so he could understand where the other one was coming from and he really didn’t want to remind either of them of it. </p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Good evening, <br/>this chapter comes later than usually but that's most likely because I was so focused on writing later parts of this story that I totally forgot about the fact that this chapter wasn't finished until I wanted to post it just to notice that it was only four sentence long </p>
<p>Well I fixed that by now and I hope it's not that obvious while reading the chapter. Due to the short time I worked on it I haven't shown it my beta so yep all mistakes are my own I'm sorry. </p>
<p>Have fun with it :D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The silence started to get on her nerves. Miyu wasn’t able to say how long they were sitting around here. Or more, how long she was sitting around here. Yusaku was still down on the ground, his chest slowly rising as proof that he was still alive and really just unconscious. Jin was standing in the corner of the room, arms crossed in front of his chest while his eyes were focused on Yusaku as if he still wasn’t sure what he should think about this situation. Well she really couldn’t blame him because she wasn’t sure either. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After all… after Yusaku had opened the door her first thought was on getting out of this place and as far away as possible. But then the other teen had collapsed on her and while Miyu probably would have been able to just drag him somewhere safe to wait for help that little figure that had risen out of the duel disk of the younger boy had other plans for them. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Actually…. Miyu couldn’t tell why but she hadn’t been able to argue with the obvious AI that somehow remembered her of something Aoi had told her after she woke up in the hospital. She probably was too tired for it. Too hungry. Exhausted. Probably all of it. In the end it didn’t matter because that AI - Chaos as it had introduced itself - had explained to her… them that they had gotten Jin out as well as another girl who was still passed out in the room next to this one - that people weren’t even searching for them and that they were better off without other humans around. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She wasn’t so sure what to think about it. While she had been a rather lonely person, not actively trying to reach out to others ever since the incident ten years ago and the fact that yeah most people were idiots in her opinion, she still wasn’t sure if rotting out humanity would be the right course of action. On the other side… </span>
  <em>
    <span>humans</span>
  </em>
  <span> had put her through this immense pain for more than half a year for the </span>
  <em>
    <span>second</span>
  </em>
  <span> time in her life now. And Miyu was rather sure that she wouldn’t sit and wait for it to happen a third time only because people thought they could get some profit from the resulting AI’s. So maybe… maybe Chaos was right with telling them that they didn’t need the rest of humanity. That they had the right to get revenge for what had been done to them. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She barely had thought about it that way. At least not before. But a few hours ago Chaos had returned to them, telling her and Jin that he had managed to finish the other two AIs that had been created during the last few months, despite the fact that they hadn’t been in here as long as Yusaku had. And shortly after she had met </span>
  <em>
    <span>Sorrow</span>
  </em>
  <span>. With the little AI resting in the duel disk around her wrist Miyu was thinking about a lot of things different. Almost </span>
  <em>
    <span>easier</span>
  </em>
  <span>. If they would actually get rid of everyone else… there would be no one left to hurt them again after all. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her thoughts were interrupted by a painful moan that came from Yusaku’s direction and once Miyu turned around to him her eyes were met with bright green ones. </span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>While things already have been interesting with Haruto and Takeru on the same boat, they got so even more after Ai joined their team. Even if the AI currently was reduced to being an eye, he liked to comment on anything and everything and tend to get on a few nerves with it. Ryoken suspected that it was because he didn’t want to get time to think about Yusaku, but despite everything he didn’t asked him about it. He tried to avoid thinking too much about the missing teen as well so he could understand where the other one was coming from and he really didn’t want to remind either of them of it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>What...all in all </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> strange. Looking at the fact that Ai still was an </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ignis</span>
  </em>
  <span>. And that it once had been his mission…the only </span>
  <em>
    <span>purpose</span>
  </em>
  <span> in his life to destroy these AIs his father had created all those years ago. He probably shouldn’t feel as ease with him at his side as he currently was doing. All in all… Ryoken wasn’t sure how to explain it, but it just felt </span>
  <em>
    <span>right</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Maybe because Ai was a part of Yusaku. Maybe because he was making himself believe that as long as Ai was at his side there was a chance for Yusaku to come back. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was a hope that was dying more and more with every single day passing though. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Anything new?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ryoken looked up from the screen he was staring at only seconds ago after he had noticed the teens voice, looking up to the green haired teen while frowning slightly. It was rare to see him without Spectre or Takeru close because usually Haruto was either trying to approach Takeru lately or hiding with Spectre to avoid his former childhood friend. Seemed like neither was an option right now. Or Haru just needed a break. Eventually Ryoken found that he didn’t actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>cared</span>
  </em>
  <span> as long as they wouldn’t try to kill each other in one way or another, so instead he settled down with shaking his head. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nothing yet. There’s no sign of Unknown being in the network again.” he replied eventually. Ai blinked tired from the duel disk he was still resting in. While the Ai was wanting to see his partner again so badly at the same time he couldn’t deny that he was actually afraid of meeting the missing teen again. Up until now he had only heard from both Ryoken and Takeru what they had found out and how their meeting with Unknown had went down. It hadn’t sound like Yusaku. No matter how much Ai wanted to cling on the idea that his former partner was somewhere out there </span>
  <em>
    <span>safe</span>
  </em>
  <span>… something had went horribly wrong after his supposed to be death and he really feared that Yusaku had paid the price for it. It had been what Ai had tried to avoid so much though… </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I see.” Haruto replied eventually, letting himself drop on a nearby chair, before his eyes eventually found the duel disk that was placed on the table next to the keyboard Ryoken had been working with short ango. “Any progress with </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>While Ryoken had his own history and problems with the Ignis, he never had once forgotten about the fact that Haruto wasn’t on that good terms with those AI either after the Wind Ignis had tried to kill him a few months ago. Ryoken couldn’t blame him. And he probably wouldn’t talk him out of it. While he was slowly trying to accept that he actually liked to have Ai’s presence around, it was the green haired teens decision whether or not he would trust the AI or not. And which consequences he would make out of it. Eventually they had decided to keep the Ignis return a secret as far as possible for now, which meant that beside them and Takeru only Spectre knew about the Ignis return as well. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Small ones.” he replied eventually, looking down at Ai now, who was looking back at him with the one eye that still seemed to be all he was able to form right now. “It seems like his program is growing. Maybe he’s rebuilding himself right now. I’m not sure and he isn’t cooperative either.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey I’m right here you know?” Ai protested, clearly not happy with how Ryoken decided to talk as if he wasn’t around for this conversation. If he would have been able he would have risen out of the duel disk, arms crossed in front of his chest as a sign he was pouting but… it wasn’t the right time yet. While Ai had avoid vocal confirmation up until this point most likely because he wasn’t interested in explaining they how and why’s and the truth that was hidden between it, Ryoken was right when he said he was slowly rebuilding his program. It seemed like Ai needed to put up with Ryoken for it a bit longer, but eventually he would be his old self again. Hopefully. After all… Yusaku wasn’t here to help him with that progress. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re not really helpful so it’s not making any difference right now.” Ryoken contered eventually, pulling Ai out of his thoughts again. “Still ignoring me is </span>
  <em>
    <span>rude</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Raising an eyebrow Ryoken was watching the duel disk skeptical, but decided to stay silent about it. He already had a beginning headache. And he wouldn’t risk it growing even faster by having a unnecessary argument with the other one. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It seems like you two are getting along better every day.” Haruto commented eventually. There was a smirk on his face, one Ryoken wasn’t sure how to name though. But at least it seemed like the younger teen didn’t have any problem with him being here for now. He hoped it would stay like that but until now Ai had avoided to cause any trouble besides commenting on almost everything. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m actually surprised by it as well.” Hanoi’s leader commented. He actually was. When Ai had started to live in his duel disk he had tried to leave that thing either in Takeru’s company or locked in his room. As Takeru had still trouble facing Ai after everything that happened with Yusaku it had been the second option more than the first, but after Ai had rearranged Ryokens whole room over the span of two hours Ryoken hadn’t decided to not let him unsupervised ever again if possible. Since then they had arranged themselves. And at this point he actually enjoyed the company. He didn’t voiced that though. He wasn’t sure whether or not Haru would be ready to accept or understand that and he wouldn’t risk causing any distrust inside of the Hanoi in a situation like this. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’re trying our best.” he ended eventually, getting an agreeing hum from Ai as a response. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But I still want Yusaku to come home as soon as possible so he can take care of Ai again.”  Or at least that's what Ryoken tried himself to convince of. It wasn’t getting rid of Ai again anymore. It wasn’t just about Yusaku coming home to know he was safe. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He just wasn’t ready to accept that just yet. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. [ Ten ]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>New chapter :D <br/>it's earlier again this week cause I'm back to the part I have already prewritten. </p>
<p>Next weeks chapter... I don't make much promises because I will have a whole week of vacation and I expect to lose track of time at Saturday the latest xD</p>
<p>Again a chapter that I love very much, mostly because I love writing these two &lt;3 </p>
<p>I hope everyone stays healthy  :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“I wanted to save him.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ai’s voice was quiet, but still it was enough to get Ryoken’s immediate attention. If the teen was honest to himself he hadn’t even noticed that Ai had appeared out of the duel disk trying to show him that he had reconstructed his code enough to get his body back, too focused on the code in front of him, as if it was able to tell him where Yusaku and the others were held. It probably wasn’t, but it was all they had. Unknown’s login information had carefully been erased from the servers, so he wouldn’t be able to gather any information from them besides the fact that wherever Yusaku currently was, he had some wifi connection there. Which… wasn’t really helpful at all in a world where you could access the internet from almost everywhere. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For a moment he forced himself to look away from the screen, instead focusing on the little AI sitting at the edge of his duel disk - a sight Ryoken hadn't expected to witness and honestly he wasn’t sure what to think about it and when actually had that AI gotten his body back? - crossing his arms slightly in front of his chest while doing so. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“By playing the enemy?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>If Ryoken was honest then it was just a guess. It had seemed so out of character for the Ignis to suddenly turn against Playmaker and his allies the way he had. But he never had learned for the reason that caused him to act like that. With the confession Ai just had made Ryoken suddenly couldn’t help but wonder if there was something he didn’t know about yet. Something Ai knew. And Yusaku probably does as well. And maybe - Ryoken wasn’t sure if this was just wishful thinking from his part - it would explain why Unknown had turned against humanity as well just like Ai had done before. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Ignis had fallen silent again, looking down at his tiny hands instead and for the first time Hanoi’s leader wondered what exactly was going on in the others head. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“They would have killed Yusaku.” Ai admitted eventually, looking up to the other one again and if Ryoken hadn’t been sure that the other was nothing more than an AI, a pile of data, he could have sworn that he had been able to see the pain in the others eyes. Or maybe he actually was. The Ignis tend to surprise him over and over again after all. “As long as I am the only Ignis around, no matter what we did, it always ended with Yusaku dying to protect me. And me killing most of humanity in an act of revenge afterwards.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>This… most likely hadn’t been what the white haired teen had expected. “You wanted us to kill you so no one would harm Yusaku in an attempt to get you.” he replied after the whole meaning behind Ais words had set in. The tiny AI just nodded, eyes down on its hands again already. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It certainly was something for Ryoken to take in. Because if he looked at things like that… Ai had tried to sacrifice himself not only to save Yusaku like he had just said, but also to prevent himself from harming humanity. It was more than they ever had thought possible for an AI like that. Even if he had been aware of the Ignis having free will, of them developing with every interaction they had… he never would have thought they would get this </span>
  <em>
    <span>selfless</span>
  </em>
  <span> in the process. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For a moment he stayed silent, before a sigh left his lips. “But you missed something in your calculations.” he replied eventually, instantly getting Ai’s attention on him again. Actually Ryoken needed a while to form the following words in his head, because even though he had some idea, some worst case scenario about what had happened to Yusaku, he still didn’t have any proof. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>‘Fujiki Yusaku is dead.’ </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>‘Two are still fighting.’</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>‘Lost the battle against pain and exhaustion.'</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>New cyberse cards.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ryoken might not have any proof yet, but Unknown’s words and cards had spoken a rather clear message. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Someone out there didn’t seem to have accepted that you’re gone. And I fear our missing friends were those that had to pay the price for it.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They wouldn’t, right? Ryoken had paid so much attention to getting rid of any remaining documents about the Lost Incident. He had spent so many hours making sure that no one would be able to figure out what exactly had happened to those kids during those hellish six months. </span>
</p>
<p><span>Did he </span><em><span>fail</span></em> <span>with that too?</span></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. [ Eleven ]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Too old friends and a conversation long overdue.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>And another week : ) <br/>Welcome to everyone who's still with me at this chapter. </p>
<p>As always all kind of feedback's appreciated. </p>
<p>See you next week~</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>If Takeru was honest with himself, then he still wasn’t so sure what to think about the fact that he was practically living with </span>
  <em>
    <span>Hanoi</span>
  </em>
  <span> on this ship right now. He hadn’t spent that many thoughts on it yet, as he had been busy with other things before. The disappearance of Yusaku and Jin, the fact that whoever was behind it had Miyu as well.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>And Kiku. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Because he hadn’t been able to protect her. It was still something Takeru hadn’t really understood. Spectre, Haruto and him… they all had been there, scattered across the plaza full of people. They all had been </span>
  <em>
    <span>alone</span>
  </em>
  <span>. So why Kiku? Why did they take the only one of them that hadn’t been involved in the Lost Incident?  Just because she had been the one that had been close to the street? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He wasn’t able to find answers to this and it was driving him crazy. And if Ryoken hadn’t ordered the ship to leave the harbour the moment he had returned and learned of what had happened during his absence, Takeru probably had left again already to search for his friend. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Thinking about it… Ryoken probably did exactly that just to stop him from doing something reckless like that huh? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That bastard.” he cursed quietly, because it sounded so much like something Revolver would do and at the same time Takeru realized that while he probably should have expected something like that those that had taken Kiku hadn’t. They probably had counted on the fact that he would follow them to save his friend.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Takeru…?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The sudden voice of Haru caused Takeru to turn around to his former best friend and his eyes wide in realization. While their relationship was still messy and he was still coming to accept the fact that the other one had joined Hanoi as well, Takeru couldn’t help but wonder if Haru had followed him if he had gotten the chance to chase after Kiku. After all, he knew that girl as well. And from what he had figured out by now they still had been in contact, even after all those years. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That was it right? They had taken Kiku because they expected that both of them would go with them without much fighting that way. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Seemed like Ryoken had saved him </span>
  <em>
    <span>again</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wasn’t making the fact that he was living with Hanoi any easier though. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Eventually he let out a sigh as his eyes settled on the green haired teen. If he was honest he had tried to avoid being alone with the other one, unsure how to deal with the whole situation between them. Part of him knew that it never had been Haruto's decision to leave the town. It had been a decision his parents made as a consequence of the Lost Incident. The only thing he could blame the other one for was that he never once told him about it. From one day to the other Haru had suddenly vanished from his life </span>
  <em>
    <span>again</span>
  </em>
  <span>. And if it hadn’t been for Kiku to tell them that they moved he probably never had learned about it in the first place. Would he have left his home again to search for the other one? Takeru actually wasn’t sure but it was shortly after that he had started to close himself off. His parents had died searching for him and he never got the chance to apologize to them. And Haruto… the reason they had this fight in the first place just had left as well. He had felt alone. Betrayed. And it had taken him years to actually see that. And Revolver of all people to get him to accept it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What do you want?” he replied after a while, arms defensively crossed in front of his chest. Haruto let out a sigh as an immediate reply, because he kinda had been afraid the other one would just leave the moment he had said his name. But at least for now it seemed like Takeru actually was okay to talk for the first time ever since he had settled down here. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Haru was rather well aware about the fact that the other one didn’t want to be here. And actually he was surprised that Takeru hadn’t tried to find a way back on his own. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nothing I just…” he started, stopped again because no, that wasn’t true. Closing his eyes for a moment Haru took in a deep breath before looking at his childhood friend again. Somehow Takeru hadn’t changed at all since then. And at the same time he was barely the same person. None of them still was. The Lost Incident had changed everyone involved in one way or another after all… </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sorry.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Those words actually caught the older teen by surprise. He certainly had a few things he was blaming the other for, but he hadn’t expected Haru to actually apologize for it. A confused “What?” had left his lips before he even had processed the whole meaning behind the others words. For a moment both of them were silent, Takeru confused by the turn of the situation, Haruto not sure about what to say next. In the end it was the younger one who spoke up first though. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Your parents… if it hadn’t been for me Kogami wouldn’t have gotten you and you would have stayed with your parents. If it hadn’t been for me they wouldn’t have died searching for you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>From all the things Takeru had blamed Haru for that certainly hadn’t been on the list. The fact that he left him alone or him going ahead joining Hanoi probably would have been the biggest things he was mad at the other one for. But his parents? Since when was Haru blaming himself for that? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Idiot.” was all he commented in the end. After all… the other one never had a choice in any of that. Takeru was rather sure that his former friend didn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>ask </span>
  </em>
  <span>to be kidnapped. Neither did he force him to get into that argument with his parents, nor that Takeru had happened to be kidnapped as well. “What happened to my parents had never been your fault.”  he added after a while, but Haruto only needed one look into Takeru’s eyes to understand the unsaid message behind those words. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>‘But it’s your fault you just went ahead and left me’</span>
  </em>
  
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. [ Twelve ]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>This was anything but comforting and Aoi felt her hands start to shake slightly. She folded them together in an attempt to hide it though. “Who else?” For the first time since she came to the room that her brother spoke up again and for a moment Aoi turned around to him. His expression was serious, but besides that she wasn’t able to read anything in his face. Again she turned back to Ryoken, right in time to see something flash iin his eyes. Was it… regret? Guilt? The girl wasn’t sure but she was rather sure that she wouldn’t like what she was about to hear next. </p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for all the kudos &lt;3 <br/>today's chapter has a meeting I had loved to see in the anime, but we never got the chance : / </p>
<p>Have fun reading and stay safe~</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“So you are… Kogami Ryoken?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aoi’s voice was slightly sceptical. It was the first time she was meeting the other outside of Link VRAINS and while she had known his name for a while, she never had been able to figure out what the older one looked like in real life. It was not because she hadn’t tried. With and without the help of her brother and Ema, the girl had tried to dig out more information about Hanoi’s leader after she had found out that he had been the one that had paid for Miyu’s hospital bill by accident. She probably hadn’t been supposed to find that out in the first place, but after Miyu disappeared from her life again one day, she couldn’t help but follow all the leads she could find. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In the end she hadn’t found any information about her friend’s whereabouts, and because of the fact that Hanoi had paid for the hospital in some way, she could rule out the possibility of Hanoi being behind her disappearance. It wasn’t making her feel any better though. Miyu was still </span>
  <em>
    <span>gone</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It had been true that she had been looking for Ryoken though. On and offline because she didn’t have any ways to contact him directly, but she still clung to the hope that the older one could tell her at least something. Some lead to her missing friend. Any piece of information that would help her figure out what had happened. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But she hadn’t been that successful. Even asking Kusanagi hadn’t been helpful at all. Surely the older one had tried finding her a way to contact Hanoi but even he hadn't had any direct way. And then he stopped responding to her messages one day and it wasn’t until Ema told her that his brother Jin had actually disappeared as well, that Aoi realized that this was more than just her friend disappearing. At first she had thought Miyu had just returned to where she was living. But she hadn’t been able to figure out where that was and had hoped Ryoken could tell her. But with another victim of the Lost Incident disappearing the worry had grown even bigger. Was someone after those teens? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She actually had been trying to contact Takeru just to figure out if he was okay or gone too when her brother had come to her room announcing that there was someone in the living room who wanted to meet her. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And so she ended up sitting across Kogami Ryoken. The guy she knew was the one behind the mask of Revolver. And he was the total opposite of what the girl had expected him to be. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m rarely called that these days, but I guess that’s still my name.” the other one replied after a while, leaning back on the couch he was sitting on. It made no sense for Aoi. Why he was here, or why he seemed to be so calm. For a moment her eyes wandered over to her brother, but Akira had decided to stay out of this until he could make more of the situation. He had been aware of the fact that his sister had been looking for Hanoi’s leader. It was why he had agreed to Ryoken’s request to meet her to begin with. And even though they have been working together for a few months now… it was the first time Akira had met the younger one in person as well. While he had been aware of the fact that Revolver was barely older than his sister, by only two years, it was almost painful to see it for real. Whatever burden the other one had carried on his shoulders that had caused him to go so far… he wasn’t even sure if he</span>
  <em>
    <span> wanted </span>
  </em>
  <span>to know. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But I heard you were looking for me. So here I am.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Somehow both of the siblings doubted that this was the only reason for the other one showing up like this. But neither of them said that out aloud. Instead Akira crossed his arms in front of his chest and leaned back against the door frame while Aoi bit down on her lower lip slightly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My friend Miyu.” she started to reply after a while, looking closely at the other to see if she could spot any changes in his expression. But the other one was wearing a mask carefully on his face that didn’t let any emotions out to the surface. It was almost frustrating. Like the whole situation was. “She’s been missing ever since she left the hospital. I… I read in her records that you paid for her bill so I thought you might be able to tell me where she went?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For a moment Ryoken was silent. It was rather obvious that he </span>
  <em>
    <span>knew</span>
  </em>
  <span> something, but that he wasn’t sure how to word it. Aoi was up and about to call him out on it, but the same moment she opened her mouth again the older teen decided to speak up again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I can’t say anything about the current location of Sugisaki Miyu.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That definitely wasn’t what Aoi wanted to here and it was rather obvious in her face. Well should Ryoken be in her place he probably wouldn’t be happy either. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What I can tell you is what seemed to have happened to her.” he added after a while, immediately getting him the attention of both siblings again. “Are you saying something bad happened to her?” Aoi demanded to know only seconds later, eyes wide in fear. Because for weeks she had visited Miyu in the hospital everyday after school. And the one day she had been late because of some exam, the girl had </span>
  <em>
    <span>disappeared</span>
  </em>
  <span>.  If she had been on time that day… could she have prevented it from happening? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We don’t have any proof yet but from what we know for now, it isn’t only your friend that had disappeared.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>This was anything but comforting and Aoi felt her hands start to shake slightly. She folded them together in an attempt to hide it though. “Who else?” For the first time since she came to the room that her brother spoke up again and for a moment Aoi turned around to him. His expression was serious, but besides that she wasn’t able to read anything in his face. Again she turned back to Ryoken, right in time to see something flash iin his eyes. Was it… regret? Guilt? The girl wasn’t sure but she was rather sure that she wouldn’t like what she was about to hear next. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fujiki Yusaku and Kusanagi Jin.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ryoken’s voice was quiet and didn’t show any emotion. At the same time he closely watched the other two for any reactions. He had spoken to both Takeru and Kusanagi before coming here, it was how he had learned about Aoi searching for him in the first place. They had informed him that the siblings already knew about Yusaku being Playmaker. And Kusanagi was okay with telling them his brother was gone as well, mostly because Aoi had become friends with Jin ever since he was released from the hospital. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The reaction came immediately. Aois hands went up to cover her mouth, while Akira visibly flinched. They both had been aware of Yusaku still being gone, but like everyone else they had suspected the teen just needed the time to figure things out. To hear that he went missing just like Miyu did...like Jin did. Aoi wasn’t sure what to say or think about it, but her brother recovered from the news a lot faster, stepping a bit closer towards them before directing his eyes on Ryoken again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I take it it’s not a coincidence that they all had been victims of the Lost Incident?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As soon as he had spoken out those words Aoi realized that she hadn’t thought about that this way. It was kinda making her feel uneasy. At the same time she couldn’t help but start to worry about Takeru as he had been connected to the incident as well. If it really wasn’t a coincidence, then… </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We suspect not. There was also an attempt to kidnap Homura Takeru as well, but Spectre and Haru were there in time. Unfortunately they took Homura’s childhood friend instead.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Which still made sense only halfway. Ryoken could only suspect why they took that girl while they had all remaining victims of the Lost Incident right there in front of their eyes. Either they had actually bet on the chance that the boys would chase them, or they had just been plain stupid. Or not aware of the fact that Haruto and Spectre had been involved as well, which would mean that whoever was behind this had ordered someone to bring Takeru to them. And once the boy had been out of their vision they had taken Kiku instead to lure him out. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What else do you know?” Aoi broke the silence again and for the first time her eyes met those of Ryoken’s. He hesitated for a moment, but then decided on telling them of his and Soulburner’s meeting with Unknown and what the duelist told them about Yusaku being dead. For now he didn’t mention Ai though. The AI was still with him, hidden in his duel disk, but as he seemed to have decided to stay out of this conversation Ryoken wouldn’t drag him into the open either. After all, the AI and the Zaizen siblings didn’t part on the best terms, and he was here to get their help, not to gain more enemies. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. [ Thirteen ]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Kiku's waking up and maybe it's time for a new hide out.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Welcome to the next chapter. <br/>Actually, chapters because this includes two parts again. Idk I'm feeling like the second part's a bit short to stand on it's own and maybe I'm a bit selfish at this point because placing these chapters together here means next weeks chapter's going to be one of my favorites. It's actually one of the first things I have written for this story and yeah.. I'm not gonna spoil much but there are certain people meeting again &lt;3 </p>
<p>Besides that I'm back at work full time so while that's good for my pay check it's not as good for my free time so less time for writing. I still have a few chapters left. But there's a big hole at some point that needs to be filled xD </p>
<p>any kind of feedback is loved as always &lt;3 have a nice day.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>When Kiku woke up at first she couldn’t tell where she was or what had happened. She could remember being on a train with Takeru. Running from people she didn’t know. And then everything got blurry and the next thing she remembered were white walls around her and a VR set in front of her. Part of her had wondered if this was what Takeru had felt like when he had found himself trapped during the Lost Incident ten years ago. While the girl had always been aware of the fact that her friend had gone through something horrible she always had been kept in the dark about most of it. Eventually a few months back, after Takeru had returned from Den City much more happy and alive than Kiku had seen him in ten years, the other had told her a bit more about what happened during what was called the Lost Incident. About how he had been forced to duel for months and how an AI had been created from it. She hadn’t really understood at that point. With what she was told and what had been kept from her there were so many things she still didn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>know </span>
  </em>
  <span>and it had made it difficult for her to understand completely. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But then she found herself in that white room. Unsure of what to do with the VR set in front of her. She never had been good at Duel Monsters, barely had played to begin with, because when she was younger it had been more of a ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>boys thing</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ in her eyes. Then she just hadn’t cared about it because whenever that card game was brought up Takeru looked like someone had punched him right in the face and threatened his life. Kiku had hated that expression on her friend’s face. So she had mostly avoided getting closer to that game. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Eventually she had only tried the VR set once. The duel was over before the girl had even understood the cards she had in her hand and the pain followed immediately causing her to break down crying, not only over the pain she had just experienced but also about the realisation that Takeru had gone through this for </span>
  <em>
    <span>six months</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She hadn’t tried to duel again and eventually had passed out due to exhaustion and when she had woken up again she wasn’t in that white room anymore, but instead in a tiny grey one. Sitting up on the couch she was placed on she looked around, wondering where exactly she was now and how she had gotten here in the first place. Eventually she spotted a boy on the other side of the room, sitting on a simple chair watching her and Kiku frowned slightly. The other one seemed somehow familiar. She was rather sure she hadn’t met him before, but she had seen him somewhere a while ago. Wasn’t it… a picture Takeru had shown her from his trip to Den City? Her eyes widened a bit at that realization, before a frown settled down on her face. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You are… Fujiki-kun, right?” she asked eventually. “I don’t understand… Takeru said something bad happened to you?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was no immediate reaction in the other one’s face. Instead Yusaku was watching her, wondering about what to do with her. He wasn’t so sure when exactly she had been brought here or </span>
  <em>
    <span>why</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Honestly he hadn’t even been aware of the fact that she was a friend of Takeru until she had mentioned the other teen’s name just now. Which also made him realize that she couldn’t have been here for that long, if she had seen Takeru only after he had ran into Revolver and Soulburner.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For a moment he was about to tell her that she shouldn’t call him that. Yusaku was dead after all, or at least that was the image he wanted to create. But he already had failed to get Miyu and Jin to call him Unknown outside of the virtual reality, so he wouldn’t even try to convince the blue haired girl right now. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Takeru said that? It seems a bit late for realizations like that.” he settled on a reply eventually, before getting up from his chair, taking a few steps towards the girl. Again Kiku frowned. Actually she had heard a lot of stories about Fujiki Yusaku, but the teen standing in front of her somehow didn’t seem to fit those stories. He seemed… different. But when she looked back at her short time inside of that white room… she couldn’t help but wonder how long Yusaku had been in there. And how much it had changed him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He’s worried about you.” For a moment the other frowned, but the expression vanished from Yusaku’s face before Kiku was able to call him out on it, leaving behind an empty expression again. It didn’t stop Kiku from speaking up further though. “You got me out of that room right? Where are we? I’m sure Takeru’s worried about both of us right now, we should call him to…” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We won’t contact anyone.” Yusaku interrupted her with a rather harsh tone and Kiku found herself blinking in surprise. “But… he’s worried abou…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t care.” Well that certainly wasn’t like the Yusaku Takeru had told her about, that much was clear to her. But still… why was he talking like that?  “You don’t want to go back to your friends?” she asked instead, but it seemed like it wasn’t the right thing to say right now at all. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t have </span>
  <em>
    <span>friends </span>
  </em>
  <span>left outside of this building.” the other one replied in the same moment, voice cold and Kiku </span>
  <em>
    <span>flinched</span>
  </em>
  <span>. “That’s not true. Takeru’s your friend and he’s worried about you and…” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Takeru betrayed me just like the rest of humanity. I don’t need him or them.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Something in Yusaku’s eyes had changed at those words. Kiku didn’t like it, nor what he just had said, because it almost sounded like a threat. But still… she couldn’t understand when and how Takeru had betrayed the other one. After all… Takeru had talked so much about him and how he would return from his journey once he was ready. Had been so obviously sad and hurt by the realization that something had happened to his friend while he had thought he was safe… </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kiku was aware of the fact that Takeru had been blaming himself for not noticing that something had happened to Yusaku earlier. But why wasn’t Yusaku seeing that as well? Or...did he not </span>
  <em>
    <span>want </span>
  </em>
  <span>to see it? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re either with us or against us.” Yusaku’s voice was almost threatening when he spoke up again and Kiku couldn’t help but to stare at him with wide eyes because nothing made sense to her. The other one had said he didn’t need humanity before but what exactly did he mean? If she said she was with them, what exactly would she be agreeing to ? She had opened her mouth to ask about it, but stopped once she spotted a tiny black figure rising out of Yusaku’s duel disk. It had golden marks all over his body and Kiku couldn’t help but stare about it in surprise. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Takeru had talked about AI’s that had been created during the Lost Incident but also said that they all had been destroyed over the last few months. Had…. had Yuskau been long enough in this place to create a new one? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What….?” she started, but was yet again interrupted, this time by the tiny AI. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Make your decision girl. Are you on our side against humanity or not.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Against</span>
  </em>
  <span> humanity? It still made no sense to her, but she somehow was convinced that Takeru wouldn’t like any of this. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re a human as well.” was all she replied in the end. Again there was a flash of </span>
  <em>
    <span>something</span>
  </em>
  <span> in Yusaku’s eyes before he crossed the distance between them. Somehow Kiku didn’t really like having him… having that AI so close suddenly and she tried to get some distance between them by pushing herself against the back of the couch she was sitting on. “....Yusaku?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She didn’t get an immediate reply. Instead she could spot a </span>
  <em>
    <span>sad </span>
  </em>
  <span>expression in his eyes, before the tiny AI turned into some giant monster. The last thing she knew was Yusaku’s quiet voice, admitting he had hoped for her to be on his side before everything around her went black. </span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Slowly Jin raised his head as the door opened again, shortly after he could spot Yusaku returning, the blue haired girl not with him. So that was the decision she had made, hu? For a second he looked over to Miyu, but it didn’t seem like she was going to comment on it so he wouldn’t either. If Jin was honest with himself he hadn’t expected that girl to join their side anyways. After all… she couldn’t understand. Would never be able to understand in the first place what they had gone through and how it had changed them. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Where do we go from here?” he asked instead, head tilted to the side. While he had come to this place with a small hope and a mission in mind there was nothing that would keep him here anymore. And he was rather sure that the other two didn’t really want to stay here either. After all… no one could stop them. Neither the guy he had spotted in the other room, dead after being shot by Jin could only suspect had been Yusaku, nor those two trapped in one of these white cells. Actually Jin couldn’t bring himself to care about the fact that they probably would starve to death there. They hadn’t cared about them being tortured either. “You don’t plan on staying here, right?” Even though Jin was already convinced of that, it couldn’t help to ask either, right? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yusaku stopped in his movements at those words, frowning slightly. While Jin was right with him not wanting to stay here he hadn’t really thought about a place they could go to either. He had been focused on other things before. No, not really, more with recovering. Unlike the other two he had spent more time online than offline lately and it showed. “I’m not sure.” he admitted after a while, his eyes searching those of his Ignis’. “I mean there’s this place I’m sure no one would look for us but…” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was a lot connecting them to that place. Or at least him. Jin frowned slightly at those words though, not so sure what to make out of them. A look over to Miyu showed him that the girl wasn’t any wiser about it either. “But what?” she asked instead, focusing on Yusaku now as well. Actually she wouldn’t mind a change of scenery. No, she actually would welcome it very much. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m not sure if Revolver is still using that place.” Yusaku added eventually, causing both of the other teens to blink in surprise because that was something they hadn’t expected. While they both could agree to the fact that no one would probably search for them in a place that was connected to Hanoi’s leader, neither of them was sure about whether or not they should go to a place connected to Hanoi in the first place. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Where are you talking about?” It was Sorrow who voiced the question that everyone in that room was wondering about right now, except Yusaku and Chaos probably. Neither of them doubted that Chaos’ knew what was going on in his origin’s head at this point. No matter how little the teen actually told them, they were all rather aware that he had spent endless hours on that private server the two of them had created talking to the Ignis. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Kogami’s mansion. Revolver hadn’t been there ever since his father died as far as I know, so it should be abandoned.”  At least as far as he knew. There was still the possibility that the older teen had actually returned there. Or that he sold the house and someone else was living there. But it certainly was the closest place Yusaku could imagine as a halfway safe hideout. For a moment his thoughts wandered to another place. Another city he hadn’t set foot in for over two years now. It once had been home, that much was sure, but… even if he was dooming humanity with his actions part of him was set against the idea of involving the people back there.  Also he really didn’t like the idea of leaving the city right now for reasons.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is that the seaside mansion big brother hangs out by sometimes?” Jin asked after a while. He could faintly remember Shoichi talking about how someone he knew once lived in that mansion, when Jin had asked why his brother was selling hot dogs that far away from the city. The point in this was </span>
  <em>
    <span>once lived in</span>
  </em>
  <span>, as in currently wasn’t living there anymore. Jin just couldn’t remember if his brother had told him more about that, mostly because he hadn’t actually cared then.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yusaku nodded slightly and for a moment Jin wasn’t sure if the other one was surprised by him knowing about that but he decided not to ask any further. Instead he went through the few memories he had about that place before he found himself nodding. “I mean we could at least check it out? It’s a fancy place after all and I’m sure we all would enjoy it after this shithole here.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I mean even if we can’t stay there, we probably could figure out where to go from there?” Miyu added eventually, head tilted to the side. Actually… if this place here wouldn’t be connected to way too many bad memories she wouldn’t mind staying here either. But with things being like they were she couldn’t wait to get away from here, to a place where she didn’t actually care about at this point. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For a moment Yusaku hesitated, mostly because the possibility of Ryoken actually being back at this mansion was one he didn’t want to run into, but eventually he nodded. “I guess it’s decided then.” he replied after a while and even Chaos agreed with a content hum. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It seemed like things were settled with that. Which only left one question, right?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What should we do with that girl?" </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. [ Fourteen ]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A meeting that probably was long overdue. Or wasn't it?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>New week, new chapter :D </p>
<p>Also a big thank you for all the hits. We almost reached 800 and I'm still surprised so many people are interested in this story. I love you all &lt;3 </p>
<p>With this chapter things get a bit more interesting. At least that was the plan when it was written. I was debatting a lot with myself over the last week whether I post this chapter on it's own or together with the next one, but for now I decided to keep them seperated for the cliffhanger effect. Let's see if I'll be really able to wait a week to post the next one though x'D </p>
<p>As always kudos, comments and subs are welcome &lt;3 </p>
<p>I wish you all a nice day :D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“So this is the place?” Blue Maiden had tilted her head slightly to the side while asking that question. Her eyes were wandering around, but she couldn’t spot anything special about this place. And yet Revolver had asked her to meet him and Soulburner here. Ghost Girl had tagged along after she had learned about the current missing status of not only Aoi’s friend but Playmaker as well, most likely because she was interested in brisant information like that but also because somewhere along the way she actually had started to enjoy the company of Playmaker. So if asked, she probably wouldn’t deny caring about what happened to him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Why Revolver had demanded to meet them online while the teens were missing in real life was beyond them though. Well Blue Maiden had briefly mentioned something about Revolver and Soulburner running into a mysterious duelist who looked a lot like their missing friend, so maybe they wanted to meet here to find some clues about his whereabouts. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But the treasure hunter wasn’t sure how much information they would be able to gather here depending on how many days, if not weeks, had passed since that meeting. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For now Revolver nodded slightly. “Wherever they are held, Yusaku was able to log into Link VRAINS from there. We need to figure out whether or not it’s coincidence he appeared here of all places or if there’s a shortcut to this place. And if so, maybe we could figure out where he logged in from.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Blue Maiden was ready to say something about that, but she was interrupted by her duel disk blinking in a dark blue light while making a strange sound, which immediately turned everyone’s attention to her. Blinking in confusion, the girl raised her arm to take a closer look at the ring around her arm. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"What…?" she mumbled quietly, while Ghost Girl exchanged a quick look with Revolver before a control panel appeared in front of her. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"It seems your duel disk got hacked." she informed, while - together with Revolver’s team in the outside world - trying to figure out who was behind it and most importantly, what they had done. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Blue Maiden again could only blink confused about that statement and eventually it was Soulburner who asked the question everyone had in their minds already. "But who would do that? And if they're able to do that, why target her?" </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was a question no one had an answer for, however. For a moment there was silence with Ghost Girl still looking up some data. Eventually a laugh interrupted the silence and the whole group instantly turned around to spot a girl with black and blue hair a few meters away from them. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"That actually was me. Even though I had some help. Guess it is time to get back what you stole from me." </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That wasn't really answering any questions, raising more instead, because Blue Maiden was oblivious to what she could have stolen from a duelist she hadn't seen around before. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was the increasingly bad feeling that led the blue haired duelist to open her user control panel, her eyes widening shortly after. "My deck? She took my deck!" </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>If they hadn't been on alert before they definitely were now. Revolver’s cold eyes settled on the girl, trying to figure out who she was and what was going on right now. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The other one just laughed again, before opening her hand where a stash of cards appeared soon after. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"These cards never belonged to you. Neither did the Ignis of Water." she stated, dark red eyes focusing on Blue Maiden alone. "I’ll be taking the cards back before you </span>
  <em>
    <span>lose</span>
  </em>
  <span> them as well." </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Those words actually caused a reaction from the former idol. Her eyes were wide, and she flinched away at those words, hands trembling slightly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"That can't be…" she mumbled, more to herself, before she shook her head, eyes still on the other duelist who was currently holding the last thing of Aqua she had left. "... Miyu-chan?" </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Again it was Revolver that reacted first, instantly looking up the other’s user information before she even got the chance to reply. Her name was </span>
  <em>
    <span>Rain. </span>
  </em>
  <span>But besides that there wasn't any information available, it almost instantly reminded him of Unknown’s user information. And with Unknown most likely being Yusaku… Blue Maiden probably was right in her suspicion. Even though that didn't explain how </span>
  <em>
    <span>two</span>
  </em>
  <span> supposed to be kidnapped teenagers had appeared inside of Link VRAINS. It caused a lot of new questions Revolver didn't dare to ask. Even less so when a tiny black and blue figure rose up from Rain’s duel disk, arms crossed in front of its chest. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Rain…" </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It said only that, but it seemed to be enough for said duelist to get the message. Because almost instantly she flinched slightly, before shrugging. "Guess that's my time to leave." </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And who said that we’re gonna let you go like that?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was Revolver who spoke up, raising a hand which instantly activated some kind of lock down program to stop the duelist from leaving. Surprisingly she didn’t really seem bothered by it, only shrugging slightly before raising her hand to point behind the group.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Him.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It wasn’t what either of them had expected but all of them instantly turned around, Soulburner’s eyes widened in surprise and Revolver bit down on his lower lip slightly as they were met with the familiar but still foreign black and golden cyberse dragon they only had seen once before. Right there on its back stood another duelist, familiar to all of them even if the new colors still seemed strange on him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Unknown</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Revolver couldn’t exactly say that he was surprised about Rain working with him. If she really was Miyu it was probably to be expected. These teenagers that had disappeared...they were working together, he just wasn’t sure what their goal was.. and that strange AI with Rain just gave him enough bad feelings to be certain that it wasn’t anything good. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>‘And I’m going to make the world burn for allowing us to suffer like that.’</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Unknown’s words still present in his head there wasn’t any doubt. Unknown had made himself as well as Rain their enemies. And somehow Revolver wondered if Jin and Takeru’s girlfriend would join their side as well. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He probably would sooner or later find out but for now his eyes wide slightly, as the dragon roared and shortly after shattered his lockdown program with a single attack. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was nothing he or any of the others could do when Rain disappeared in dark blue pixels, appearing next to Unknown shortly after. The dragon was passing by, flying over their heads with another roar but besides that he didn’t pay them any attention. Neither did Unknown. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For a moment Revolver hesitated, before taking a step forwards. “Yusaku!” He wasn’t even sure if he expected any reaction. Anything. It was the first time Ai carefully peaked out of his duel disk, but it was enough for the little AI to spot the dragon, that felt familiar and yet so different. When his eyes felt on Unknown his eyes wide in surprise, pain and shortly after he sank into the duel disk again. It was a movement Revolver only noticed from the corner of his eye, but he stayed quiet about it. Besides Soulburner and the not present Stormstriker no one knew about the return of the Dark Ignis yet and with all that had gone down between it and Blue Maiden in general this wasn’t the right time to tell them either. Even less with the two duelists keeping on ignoring him while the distance between them grew bigger and bigger. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In the end it was Soulburner who acted first. Without spending any thought on it he summoned his D-Board, jumped onto it before he followed the dragon, totally ignoring Blue Maiden calling out for him, Ghost Girl stating that was too dangerous. Revolver looked down to his duel disk another time, but Ai didn’t appear back on the outside to give any input. The next moment Revolver was already on his own D-Board chasing the fiery duelist as well. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Left behind were Blue Maiden and Ghost Girl and for a moment it seemed like the younger one was up to follow the boys as well. But Ghost Girl was expecting that, putting a hand on the younger shoulder as soon as she tried to summon her D-Board as well. “Don’t.” she said, voice calm while her eyes were still watching the dragon as well as the other two duelists disappearing at the horizon. “You have no deck currently, you won’t be any help at all.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And Blue Maiden didn’t like it. Because she felt like she should follow Rain as well. Miyu as well. She let that girl down so many times already and yet… again she wasn’t able to help her. Even more… Rain had seemed to be really angry at her for what had happened to Aqua which was kinda odd… because as soon as Miyu had woken up after the war with Lightning Aoi had been there to tell her long lost friend everything about Aqua and what she knew about the Lost Incident and the other Ignis. Miyu hadn’t seemed mad back then. More she had been grateful for Aoi to have helped her like that. So… what had happened to her that had changed her so drastically? Even more… .what had that AI on her duel disk been? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Could it be….? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But there was no way someone would have created even more Ignis, right? </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. [ Fifteen ]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Of course he had been able to watch the last duel between these two unfold and how they seemed to have solved whatever had been between them. But seeing them dueling together like that? He wasn’t sure if it was a good thing.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm actually kinda nervous posting this chapter. It was one of the first parts I have written of this story and I'm waiting to post this ever since January x'D </p>
<p>With this we more or less closed the first arc so to say. The sides are clear and the set up is (almost) done. </p>
<p>I wish you a lot of fun with reading this and wait happily for every kind of feedback. </p>
<p>Stay save till next week ~ &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It had only been a few seconds that Ai had been able to look at his origin, but it had clearly been enough to show him how much he had failed his task to protect the other one from any harm. This wasn’t what he had hoped for when he decided to sacrifice himself for Yusaku’s well being. The other one had been supposed to be happy and healthy. And not that.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was only a few seconds before the pain had become too much. Ai had been able to feel the pain, the </span>
  <em>
    <span>hate </span>
  </em>
  <span>that was radiating from the duelist that still seemed so much the same and yet was completely different. The changes had been so obvious right from the beginning, but Ai was certain that Unknown still was Yusaku. Still was </span>
  <em>
    <span>his</span>
  </em>
  <span> partner. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But at the same time he couldn’t deny that he was wondering about that part, because Unknown hadn’t been alone. Just like Rain hadn’t been. Ai didn’t understand it. There only had been six Ignis around before and they all died except of him - he had been supposed to be dead as well, he still was alive because obviously he was too stupid to die so maybe his family was still out there as well - and even if the others were still there… Neither of those AI’s with the other duelists felt like family. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But still like Ignis. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ai didn’t like the feeling that came up with that understanding. And he fortunately hadn’t that much time to dwell on it, as he suddenly was pulled out of his thoughts by a almost hurting feeling of distress. That… wasn’t Yusaku. But it still felt like the connection he used to have to his origin, just that he wasn’t with Playmaker right now for obvious reasons but with Ryoken and….. </span>
  <em>
    <span>oh</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ai always had been aware of the fact that he had been at least a tiny little bit connected to Ryoken as well. After all, the boy had talked to Yusaku back then during the incident, giving him hope and strength to move on. But not only Yusaku had learned from it, but Ai as well. Even if the white haired boy back then hadn’t been in that cell… he somehow had managed to become part of the experiment as well. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ai just never had learned whether Ryoken was actually aware of that or not. He never had the opportunity to ask and now that he was actually staying with the former leader of Hanoi he had other things in mind, but… </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It seemed like staying together had deepened the bond between them as well. </span>
</p>
<p><span>Curious about what exactly was causing someone like Ryoken feeling that way Ai couldn’t help himself than peak out of the duel disk carefully.The first sign he was met with was the same dragon that Unknown had appeared with. It wasn’t one Ai was familiar with, but Ai instantly felt that it was Cyberse. How did Unknown… How did </span><em><span>Yusaku</span></em> <span>get that monster?  Taking a closer look at the field he came to notice that besides that dragon another monster was floating around, which he rather soon could name as marincess monster. So that female duelist from before had not only stolen Aquas cards but was already using them? Ai felt anger growing in his chest, before he realized that while the other monster was indeed a member of the marincess archetype he never had seen it around before. It wasn’t like he had seen the whole deck, but he had thought he had a rather good knowledge about it. Did she get more cards as well? From whom? The other Ignis they had seen on her duel disk before? </span></p>
<p>
  <span>Ai couldn’t understand where those Ignis came from, after all he had thought he was the last one. And maybe he didn’t want to know the answer that was more or less right in front of his eyes. </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Instead he turned his attention to their side of the field and he was soon enough met with Heatleo, which caused him to blink in surprise. That wasn’t a card Revolver had in his deck, even though both of them were familiar with it.  Turning his head to the side he soon enough spotted Soulburner. So… tag duel? These two of all people? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The dark Ignis had been aware that he missed a lot of things during those six months he had been dead. Or at least something similar to it. But it never had become so painful clear to him as in this moment. Of course he had been able to watch the last duel between these two unfold and how they seemed to have solved whatever had been between them. But seeing them dueling together like that? He wasn’t sure if it was a good thing. But looking at the fact that Yusaku… no Unknown was their enemy… Ai couldn’t feel like it being something really, really bad and he couldn’t keep a pained noise back which instantly got him Revolver;s attention. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For a moment Revolver stayed silent, his eyes wandering down to Ai and back to Unknown again, the expression in his face not really easy to read. Soulburner wasn’t sure what was going on in the older’s mind, but honestly when had he ever known? In the end the other one only played on more face down cards, ending his turn with it. It was Unknown's turn now and the other one didn’t hesitate in drawing his next card. The fiery duelist wasn’t sure what card exactly the other one had drawn, nor if the other one had expected to draw it, but for a moment there was a change in the younger’s face. It was there only for mere seconds before the other’s green eyes focused on Revolver. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You know… I really hoped we could find the future together.” Unknown started after a while, causing Soulburner to blink a bit confused while Revolver managed to keep any reaction out of his face. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“....I can only guess what happened to you in the last months.” Revolver replied in the end, voice rather calm, even though he doesn’t feel like it. He wasn’t sure how the other one came to that topic yet, why he was mentioning it now out of all situations. “But you know…it doesn’t mean that future of yours is lost.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mhm…” For a moment something flickered in Unknown’s eyes before he looked down on the card he had drawn again. “Prove it to me then.” he added, before placing the card with the others in his hand, picking another one up. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I activate my fusion card.” he announced. The green card appeared next to him and shortly after he raised his arm, causing two of his monsters to glow. But before they could disappear to create the new monster, Revolver decided that it was the moment to act. They already had that one dragon on the others face, he could only suggest how many problems another one of that sort could cause them. “I activate my counter trap card. If my opponent starts a special summon it’s negated and the monster my opponent tried to summon is banished.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The reaction came promptly, but it wasn’t one Revolver would have expected. Instead the other one looked almost as if he was in pain, a sad shimmer in his eyes. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I see… he was right then.” was the first thing Unknown said in the end. It didn’t make much sense for Soulburner and even Ai looked a bit confused about that statement. Revolver though seemed like he had at least an idea what the other one was talking about, as his eyes wide slightly, as a bad feeling started to grow in his chest. Had he made a mistake with that counter trap? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The sad expression vanished out of Unknowns face again rather soon again, as his fusion card disappeared in dark pixels, but before the last pixel had disappeared there already was a grin on the others face again. “I’ll activate the special effect of Marincess Photostomias. When one of my monsters is banished I can summon a monster with the same amount of attack points from my extra deck.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For a moment the card his trap card had banished appeared next to Unknown and Revolver felt like someone had just punched him right into his face when he saw the familiar artwork of the card he once left in the other’s hands. He really hadn’t expected Unknown to still have that card, even less to</span>
  <em>
    <span> use</span>
  </em>
  <span> it, but his whole reaction suddenly made more sense than Revolver had wanted it to.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The card you banished was Borreload Furious Dragon.” Unknown announced what Revolver already had realized, but Soulburner next to him made a surprised sound followed by a “What?!” and Hanoi’s leader could feel his tag partner’s eyes on himself already. But his eyes were on Unknown alone, as the realization of his mistake, the whole meaning behind it set in.  With stopping him from summoning the monster that represented their bond, he probably had only shown Unknown that he still wasn’t okay with that future he was looking for so much. And in that situation Revolver couldn’t find the strength to tell him he was wrong. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It has 3000 attack points, so I can special summon a monster with the same amount. So as a special summon I call Dark Starlight Dragon.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Revolver had tried to avoid this. The whole reason behind him using that trap card had been to avoid having not only one, but </span>
  <em>
    <span>two </span>
  </em>
  <span>dragons with 3000 attack points on the enemies field. He gritted his teeth, cursing quietly. Soulburner wasn’t that subtle, cursing a bit louder because despite the fact that they still had Heatleo on their field, their life points had already dropped to 2500 and with two 3000 attack point dragons it wasn’t really making any difference that Marincess Photostomias only had 1200 attack points. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They were out of cards. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This can’t be…” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Time seemed to rush by as the other one declared his attacks. There wasn’t much neither Revolver nor Soulburner could have done to avoid this from happening. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They </span>
  <em>
    <span>lost.</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. [ Sixteen ]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Today's only a short chapter I'm sorry. But I can't afford double chapters for a while as I'm getting closer to the point where my prewritten chapters end. I guess that's what happen when you start to write a story from the end to meet in the middle :/</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>When Takeru had logged out and came to his senses again Ryoken already had left. He didn’t need to ask much about that, after all he had heard how the door closed with a loud bang and the worried “Ryoken-sama” from Spectre that followed. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For the moment he didn’t care about it though, rather grateful about the fact that no one had bothered to check up on him yet. So he just stayed in his position on the couch, eyes still closed while he went through the duel over and over again. They hadn’t stood a chance against the other two. From the beginning Unknown and Rain had played in sync, as if they knew each other's deck down to the last card. And somehow Takeru was sure that they actually did. And while Takeru had known most of Ryokens ace monsters and the other way around they still had been far away from that understanding. They had tried their best to figure out how to make their decks work together.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But it wasn’t fast enough. Not good enough. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Keeping their defense up against Chaotic Network Dragon had been hard to begin with. The moment Unknown had summoned a second dragon had been the one where it had been clear that they were out of options. But -  and that was the thing that Takeru couldn’t get over right now - this whole situation had been just so strange. Not only that Unknown had tried to summon one of </span>
  <em>
    <span>Revolver’s </span>
  </em>
  <span>dragons - he definitely needed to ask how he even got that card - but there was a lot of talk about some paths in the future and Takeru couldn’t help but feel like he missed the most important parts from this conversation. But whatever it really had been about… Takeru couldn’t help but suspect that it hadn’t been about the duel, but about something more important.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Letting out a sigh he opened his eyes again eventually, just in time as the door opened again and Spectre returned. “He locked himself in.” he informed, but Takeru was rather sure that the information hadn’t been for him in the first place but more for Haru, who he spotted close to the couch. Sitting up Takeru let his eyes wander back and forth between the two teens, head slightly tilted to the side. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That AI Rain had with her.” he started eventually when it became obvious that no one else was about to say something. Takeru was rather sure that neither of them would like where this conversation would lead them to, but he rather talked about it than wondering about Ryoken and his well-being. Even if he was living with Hanoi on this ship for several weeks and Ryoken was the person he interacted with most… the teen couldn’t help but wonder if this was something private he shouldn’t pry into if the older one had decided to lock Spectre out as well. “It was an Ignis, wasn’t it?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But there only had been six of those AIs. And even though Ai was back, even though Takeru couldn’t help but wonder… hope that Flame was out there as well. There shouldn’t be any other Ignis left right? They would have known about it, wouldn’t they? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We weren’t able to get that much information from them, but from the bits we could get, it seems so.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was Haru who answered his question, but only after exchanging some looks with Spectre. It was almost as if he was looking for confirmation that it was okay to share this information. It somehow made Takeru angry, because they were on the same side in this. Why were people always thinking that they didn’t need to share information with him? Yusaku had been the same with keeping everything about and around Ryoken from him until he didn’t have a choice. He kinda had hoped that things would change, but he already got the feeling that things were still the same. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But how is that even possible?” he asked instead, deciding to swallow down the anger. If he would lash out at them now they probably won’t tell him anything anymore. And he couldn’t risk that. After all, he was still stuck for some time on this ship with these people. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Spectre actually turned around to him at those words and Takeru wasn’t sure what exactly the expression in the older ones eyes were. It was an emotion he hadn’t seen in the others face before and somehow it gave him a rather bad feeling. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you really want to know?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. [ Seventeen ]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It was Ai’s voice that pulled him out of his thoughts, causing him to flinch slightly because he had almost forgotten about the little AI that currently was living in his duel disk. He definitely would need a while to get used to it. If he ever would be able to do so in the first place. </p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I skipped last week cause I wasn't feeling good : / but now I'm back and the chapter's a bit longer this time. It comes with a talk I enjoyed really much because I grew weak for Ai and Ryoken conversations x'D </p>
<p>I'm not sure if there will be a chapter next week or if I'll change to upload every two weeks at this point cause I'm running out of prewritten chapters and I can barely motivate myself to write these days xx. </p>
<p>Anyways~ have fun reading. </p>
<p>Feedback's appreciated, like always. Have a nice day &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Ryoken was rather well aware of the fact that Spectre was following him, but he wasn’t actually feeling like being confronted by him right now. Spectre was too good at reading him. Looking right through his mask and Hanoi’s leader wasn’t ready to deal with that right now. So while he actually was a bit sorry for the younger one, he ended up slamming the door right in the others face before he turned around the key to lock the door. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He wanted to be alone right now. Needed the time to sort his thoughts and most of all his feelings after everything that just happened. Letting himself fall onto his bed he stared at the ceiling for a while, wondering what he could have done differently during the duel to prevent the outcome. But no matter how many times he went through their turns, through the cards they had played… the result was always the same. It most likely would have led to Unknown trying to summon Furious Dragon no matter what. Because despite everything Unknown had this tiny little hope left. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>And he had let him down again</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It had been his mistake. He had been so set on winning the duel, because he had thought that winning would mean he could keep Unknown around for some more talk. More information. There was so much he wanted to tell and ask Yusaku but he had been denied the possibility. More so… with being so set on winning once again he missed the real point the younger one had tried to bring across. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Prove it to me then.’</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He should have realized then that he should have paid more attention to Unknown's plays. Of course he couldn’t have known for sure that the other one still had this card in his deck, but he should have considered the possibility. Should have thought about something like that when Unknown had started this, because it had been so clear what the younger one had expected from him in that moment. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But the result would have been the same, wouldn’t it? They had lost either way, so what difference would it have made if Furious Dragon had been on the field? None for the duel itself, but would he have been able to prove Unknown that he was serious about their future together? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You shouldn’t blame yourself, you know?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was Ai’s voice that pulled him out of his thoughts, causing him to flinch slightly because he had almost forgotten about the little AI that currently was living in his duel disk. He definitely would need a while to get used to it. If he ever would be able to do so in the first place. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Raising his head a bit he looked at the AI that was sitting on his duel disk again. A frown appeared on Ryokens face that he wasn’t able to fight back. There was probably no use in denying that he was already blaming himself again, but he wondered how Ai had picked up on it. And why he was saying he shouldn’t blame himself while it obviously had been his mistake that destroyed the last tiny bit of trust Unknown had in them. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hoh?”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ai nodded slightly at the small reaction. It wasn’t like he had expected some big words or a big reaction from the other to begin with. It was enough to know that he had the other’s attention. It’s the first step to get him away from this foolish way of thinking after all. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You do realize that Yusaku wanted you to stop him from summoning Furious Dragon?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Those words were almost like a punch right in Ryoken’s face and for a moment he lost control over his mask, staring at the other one with a rather shocked expression and wide eyes. It probably was answer enough for Ai, but he still waited a bit longer to see if Ryoken had anything to add to it. But when the teen eventually spoke up again his voice was only a quiet whisper and for a moment Ai wasn’t sure if he had said anything at all or if it just had been his imagination. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But...why?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>If it had been possible for Ai in his current form he would let out a sigh, but for now he just let his head drop a bit as an immediate response to the other’s words. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You said Unknown told you that Yusaku died. Like he wants to convince himself of it.” he replied in the end, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “If you would have let him summon that dragon it wouldn’t have fit into the reality Unknown is currently building for himself. He put everything on the chance that you would stop him from summoning that card so he can prove himself that he was right to begin with.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It… somehow made sense. And at the same time not at all. There would have been several different ways to convince himself of that after all. Not that Ryoken wanted him to believe things like that to begin with. “But even then… wouldn’t it have been better if I just had let him summon that dragon?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was a symbol of their bond in some way. He had left it with Yusaku all those months ago because he hadn’t been able to help him in any other way with the then upcoming fight against the dark Ignis. If Unknown had been able to summon that monster, wouldn’t it have shown him that their bond still was existing? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well in that case Unknown would have destroyed you with your own dragon.” Well at this point Ryoken couldn’t argue against that. But still… it would have been better compared to letting the younger one believe he wouldn't care about their bond. But Ai wasn’t having any of this. “And he probably would have interpreted it as a sign that your bond isn’t strong enough. And it probably would have proven his point in his strange view of thinking because he would see you being defeated by your own monster as a form of betrayal.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was a way Ryoken hadn’t thought about. Maybe because he had wanted to keep the hope that there actually had been a part of Unknown… of Yusaku that still had trust in him. But if Ai was saying it like that it was almost as if he never had a chance to begin with. He just had been able to pick how the other one would prove his point. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It wasn’t making the whole situation any better though. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The Ignis.” he started eventually, not really looking at the other one right now, instead looking around the room, searching for something he knew he wouldn’t find. “You felt it right? Those AIs they had with them.”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now it was Ai’s turn to stay quiet for a moment, before he slowly nodded. “Yeah.” he replied, letting his arms sink again. “They felt familiar but strange at the same time.” When he had picked up on the familiar feeling of Ignis for a moment he had hoped that his family found his way back, but he soon enough had been proven wrong. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You said they had to pay the price for someone not accepting that the others and I were gone.” he spoke up after a while, trying to look the other one in the eyes, but Ryoken was still refusing to look at him. Instead he had his eyes directed at the ceiling above him, some expression in them Ai couldn’t quite explain. “But what you actually meant was that someone recreated the Lost Incident to get new Ignis, didn’t you?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Whatever the expression in Ryokens face had been before, it turned into pure pain the moment those words were spoken out aloud by the tiny AI. It was all the affirmation Ai needed at that moment. They still had no real proof for it, but everything they had was speaking for it and even though Ai still was hoping for it to be wrong, he was rather sure that it was not. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He had sacrificed himself to protect Yusaku. But where had it led him to? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This wasn’t supposed to happen.” he started again after a while, getting a slow nod from Ryoken as a reply. The teen was wholeheartedly agreeing to this. After all, he had tried everything to avoid this from happening. He tried to keep the documents locked down. Tried to keep an eye on those children to keep them safe. And yet he </span>
  <em>
    <span>failed</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“I’m sorry. It seems like I can’t do anything right.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ahh stop it.” Ai replied, voice kinda annoyed while he shook his head. “You did a lot of things right. But you’re stupid because you only see the bad things instead of focusing on the good.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For a moment Ryoken wondered if he actually should feel offended by the Ignis’ words. All in all this situation felt so unreal for him, because all of this just was wrong. Ai wasn’t supposed to be stuck in his duel disk. The AI was supposed to be with Yusaku. And Yusaku wasn’t supposed to run around threatening humanity. Not after he sacrificed so much protecting it. Ryoken couldn’t help but wonder when exactly he had turned from villain to hero and even less he knew what he should feel about it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So? Enlighten me then. What good did I do?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For a few seconds Ai was only staring at him, wondering if Ryoken actually had been serious with that question, while Ryoken wondered what kind of expression would be visible in the others face if he would have been in that SOLtis body of his right now. It wasn’t until Ryoken was rather sure that Ai wouldn’t be able to name him one single thing that the other one started to talk again, raising his small fingers with every new point he was making. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“One, you saved Yusaku not only one but </span>
  <em>
    <span>three</span>
  </em>
  <span> times. And I’m sure you’ll save him again by the way. Two, you helped Takeru dealing with his trauma even though it wasn’t your responsibility. Just like you accepted all his hate and anger even though it wasn’t meant for you either. Three, without you six children would have died at your father's hand.”   </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ryoken’s eyebrow slowly raised the moment he noticed that Ai was indeed copying his and Yusaku’s speaking pattern in threes. What he wasn’t sure about was whether he did it on purpose or without realizing it. And if he actually did it on purpose, what was his reason behind it? Was Ai trying to prove some point he wasn’t aware of or was he simply mocking him?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In the meantime Ai tapped a finger against his chin while thinking of more things he could tell the other. He was rather sure that there were more. Even though Ryoken liked to think of otherwise Ai was rather sure that he wasn’t a bad person. Just like Yusaku, he had gotten lost on his way. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Maybe it hadn’t been that surprising that Ai had turned against humanity as well, looking at the two people he more or less was created from.. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You do realize that…” </span>
  <span></span>
    <br/>
  
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Nope. No arguing here, you listen mister.” Ai interrupted him as soon as Ryoken tried to tell him that he did most of those things out of guilt, not because he was a good person. Well except the point about Yusaku… but still he didn’t get the chance to say it out aloud,. And Ryoken couldn’t help but wonder how much he had changed that he was arguing with the Ignis at this point. “You gave not only Spectre but Haruto as well a new home didn’t you? And even I know you paid for Miyu’s hospital bill. I know you probably have the worst guilt complex possible but still no one expected you to do that so you can’t explain it with that.” At this point Ai was wildly gesturing with his arms and if it wasn’t to lecture him Ryoken almost could have found it funny.  But for now he could only stare at the AI, wondering when exactly Ai had learned to look right through him like only Spectre had been able before. Well...and Yusaku. Wait, that might explain it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You created Pandor because you wanted to give me a chance to back out of my suicide plan just because you wanted to spare Yusaku from the pain of having to fight me.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That certainly was something no one ever had been supposed to know. Somehow Ryoken couldn’t say he was surprised about Ai noticing that though. Actually he had expected the Ignis to bring up Pandor a lot earlier than this, so there was no reason to deny it.  Ai probably wouldn’t believe him anyways. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Again both of them fell silent, Ryoken actually thinking about what he just had been told, while Ai was watching him carefully, trying to figure out whether the human believed him or not. Well, there was one last thing he wanted to tell the other one.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You knew who Playmaker was all along but you never even thought about telling it to your father or any other member of Hanoi. You knew that I was close to Yusaku most of these five years you were chasing me and yet you never made a move to involve him.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Again Ryoken’s eyes wide slightly at the Ignis words. It was another thing no one ever was supposed to learn about. And while he had suspected that at least Ai and Yusaku would instantly look through him when it came to Pandor, he actually had thought that this part would remain his secret for the rest of his life. Seems like he had been wrong. Seems like Ai really knew him a lot better than he had given the AI credit for. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Enough...I get your point.” And even though his voice might didn’t sound like it, Ai was rather sure that he could see a small smile on the white haired male’s face. Even though it disappeared as soon as it had appeared, Ryoken wouldn’t be able to deny that it had happened. And knowing that caused a warm feeling to spread in the AI’s tiny body. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re welcome. Stupid human.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. [ Eighteen ]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>It's a really short chapter today, but I can't afford making double chapter cause I still hadn't the time to work any further on this story so I need to be careful with the chapters I have left : / </p>
<p>So I'll keep it with every two weeks for now. I'll have some vacation at the end of July and maybe (hopefully) I'll get the time to sit down and write again then. </p>
<p>Until then, enjoy a little insight of Yusaku's group. </p>
<p>As always feedback's highly appreaciated : D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The moment they had logged out Yusaku had an expression in his face that kept Miyu from actually speaking up to him. Actually the other teen didn’t really give her any chance to say something, cause as soon as he had opened his eyes again he had gotten up and left the room, leaving her behind with Jin who was as confused as she was, if not even a bit more. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What happened?” the other boy asked eventually, tilting his head to the side while his eyes were observant on the other teen. Miyu shrugged slightly, eyes still on the door their leader had left through. “I’m not sure.” she replied after a while, pulling her knees against her chest, hugging them with both of her arms. “We duelled Revolver and Soulburner.” she added eventually, causing Jin to nod because that much he and Void had been able to see from here as well. He could only imagine what exactly it had caused in Yusaku’s head to face his former friends but somehow he doubted that the meeting alone was the reason for the older one to leave like that. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m not sure but… I think Revolver had an Ignis with him.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Those words immediately got her Jin’s full attention again, even though she wasn’t looking at him but at the duel disk around her wrist. Sorrow was watching her as well, even though all that was visible on the duel disk was her eye. When Miyu had said those words out aloud the AI couldn’t help but humming in agreement though. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“There certainly had been </span>
  <em>
    <span>something</span>
  </em>
  <span>. It felt a lot like Chaos.” the AI added, causing Jin to frown. “But I thought Ai was dead?” he spoke out eventually and it was what they all had thought to begin with. All they had known up till this point. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And Jin couldn’t help but wonder… if the dark Ignis really was back… and joined forces with </span>
  <em>
    <span>Revolver</span>
  </em>
  <span> of all people…. What kind of feelings was this causing for their friend? </span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>“I knew he was still alive.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Chaos couldn’t say how long they had sat at the beach for until Yusaku finally had decided to speak up. The AI had been able to feel his origin’s distress, but he hadn’t been sure how to bring it up without upsetting Yusaku more, and so he had decided to silently be there for the other one until he was ready to talk. Seemed like that moment had come now. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And yet he didn’t come for you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His Ignis’ words caused Yusaku to bite down on his lower lip until he could taste the blood on the tip of his tongue. While his eyes were directed out on the ocean he could almost feel Chaos’ eyes on himself. It took him awhile but eventually he got himself to nod in agreement. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Seems like he cared about Revolver more.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It wasn’t making sense though. Revolver and Ai never had been friends. They had been enemies. Revolver had tried to kill Ai so many times. So why was Ai with him? Why did neither of them look for him? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Chaos stayed quiet for a moment, before raising out of the others duel disk completely, placing his tiny hands on the one of his origin. There were a few things he wanted to say to the other one, but Chaos was rather sure that it all were things Yusaku didn’t want to hear right now. And so he stayed silent instead. He didn’t want to hurt him more than the whole situation already had. And Chaos had already sworn to himself that he would make Revolver and Ai pay for hurting his origin like that. At the same time he couldn’t help but feel </span>
  <em>
    <span>relieved</span>
  </em>
  <span> that Ai had decided to join forces with Revolver instead of coming to look for Yusaku. Because even though Chaos was rather well aware of the fact that his partner was about to start a war against humanity just to keep him safe..  he would never reach the place in the other's heart that Ai had found for himself. But that was okay. Eventually he would be able to prove Yusaku that he was better than that run away AI. </span>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I promise you’ll always be the most important person to me..” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. [ Nineteen ]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The moment he left the elevator was where he started to question how tired he actually was though. Because when he could spot his little brother in front of his door Shoichi felt like he was hallucinating. Only a few minutes ago he had wished for the younger one to come back home, so seeing him now here… it felt so damn unreal. </p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you very much for all the kudos and the nice comment I got last chapter : ) </p>
<p>so here's the new one and I'm sorry to all those tht expected to see more about Ryoken or Yusaku in this chapter, but another character demanded attention and got it. </p>
<p>Next chapter should be Yusaku again. If I don't have a sudden change of plans and add another scene. I'm not sure yet as we slowly reach the part where I don't have prewritten charcters anymore x'D</p>
<p>Thank you to everyone for still reading my story and going this way with me. <br/>I never have written a story this long before and it really makes me happy that so many people are enjoying my work &lt;3</p>
<p>Comments, kudos and co are still appreciated &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Kusanagi would be lying if he said he wasn’t tired when he returned home that evening. The day had been rather eventful and yet frustrating in some way. While he still hadn’t been able to find any trace that would lead him to his missing brother, he had been able to witness the duel Revolver and Soulburner had found themselves in.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When he first heard about the duelist that looked so much like Playmaker he hadn’t been sure what to think about it. He is familiar with the name Unknown, after all it was the one Yusaku had introduced himself with, what now felt like an eternity ago. But still… with Yusaku being missing as well it had been hard to imagine him showing up in Link VRAINS with an attitude like that. Part of him had been hoping it really had been nothing more than a copy cat trying to mess up with the other two duelists. But when he had been sent the live recording of the tag duel he had found himself in a position where he no longer could deny that it really wasn’t a copycat nor a bad joke. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Seeing Unknown on the screen had somehow hurt and at the same time confused him so much. If Yusaku really was able to log in and out Link VRAINS like that…why didn’t he return home? Why didn’t he send any message? In the end the duel had been over as soon as it had started and somehow Shoichi couldn’t even say he was surprised by the result. Revolver and Soulburner were both great duelists, there was no doubt about that, but being forced to work together as a team like that had caught them off guard and it had clearly shown in how their strategies simply didn’t work out together. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He had been able to talk to Takeru after they logged out a few hours ago, but it wasn’t really bringing him more information though. Ryoken had locked himself in and was refusing to talk to them right now. So all Takeru could do was tell him about how different Unknown had been. How there had been an Ignis they hadn’t been aware of before and Shoichi would lie if he’d say he hadn’t suspected the worst at that moment. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Takeru spoke out his biggest fear shortly after. That apparently whoever was behind the disappearance of their friends had tried and succeeded in recreating the Lost Incident. And all Kusanagi had wanted at that moment was for the missing teens to return home safe and sound. The thought of Jin going through this hell again after he just had been free from the first time he had experienced things like that was hurting him a lot. He was worried about his brother. Even more than he already had to begin with. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But no matter how much he had tried afterwards, he hadn’t been able to get any more information out of the duel. He was rather aware that Hanoi probably had tried the same as well, but he couldn’t have helped it but tried to figure out the login details from Unknown and Rain. But every bit of information that once had been there had carefully been erased. It was frustrating, but somehow he hadn’t expected anything less from Yusaku. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The moment he left the elevator was where he started to question how tired he actually was though. Because when he could spot his little brother in front of his door Shoichi felt like he was hallucinating. Only a few minutes ago he had wished for the younger one to come back home, so seeing him now here… it felt so damn unreal. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“...Jin?” he couldn’t help but ask though. Voice quiet, as if the other would disappear if he would speak out too loud. Instantly the younger one turned around to him and once Shoichi’s eyes met those of his younger brother swallowed slightly. He wasn’t sure what to make out of the others expression, but it somehow reminded him of how his brother had looked like while being under Lightnings control. He really had hoped to never see an expression like that in his brothers face again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You should stop searching for me, Nii-san.” Jin started eventually. No greeting. Shoichi couldn’t help it, but somehow he couldn’t fight the feeling that Jin would leave again once this conversation was over. Or that he wouldn’t like where this conversation would lead to to begin with. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What… Do you realize what you’re saying there? How could I not search for you? You’re my brother.” he replied after a while, coming to a stop right in front of the smaller one. Jin was staring at him for a moment, before letting out a sign. “I somehow expected you to say that.” he admitted after a while, but his tone made it rather clear that he wasn’t exactly liking the fact. He refused to think about it right now. “Jin… are you okay?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Somehow he felt stupid asking that. Because while they only could suspect what the other one as well as the other missing teens had gone through, Shoichi couldn’t help but worry about his brother. The question how he even got here was one he hadn’t time to think about just yet. There was this certainty about the knowledge that Jin would leave again and that he wouldn’t be able to stop him that was pushing all the other thoughts out of his mind. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Contrary to what might have been expected in this situation Jin’s reply was a rather happy “I couldn’t feel any better, actually.” that caused Shoichi to frown in confusion. Sure they didn’t have much proof, but still… Those words just didn’t make any sense coming from someone who had been kidnapped weeks ago. Jin seemed to have noticed his irritation, because he shook his head slightly before taking a step towards his older brother. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You know… I’m aware of the fact that you liked to pretend I couldn’t remember Lightning.” he added and it caught his brother off guard because yes the younger one had been right. Kusanagi really had wanted to believe that Jin had not only forgotten about the Lost Incident but his time with the Ignis as well. He never had asked though. Because it had been easier like that. But with Jin saying things like that he probably had to accept that his brother hadn’t forgotten. And somehow he couldn’t help but wonder if Jin ever had forgotten anything at all. “What are you trying to say…?” he found himself asking, even though somehow… somehow Shoichi was sure that he wouldn’t like the answer he would get. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jin stayed silent for a moment before shrugging slightly. “Did any of you ever consider that I didn’t want to be saved? That it was my decision to go with Lightning in the first place?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Actually… Shoichi never had thought about that possibility. Probably because the way Lightning had taken Jin all those months ago had been so brutal and nothing about Jin had seemed like he wanted that in the moment. The whole thought about it just sounded so wrong at that moment and the older brother would lie if he would say he didn’t want to believe that his brother was actually serious right now. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Lightning understood me like you never could.” Jin added before his brother could reply anything and again Shoichi couldn’t help but flinch slightly. But his brother wasn’t done talking yet. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m aware that I never was as important to him as he was for me though.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Well that was kinda relieving. Somehow. Actually Shoichi wasn’t sure what to feel at that moment. And somehow he didn’t quite understand why Jin was here telling him that right now. It wasn’t until the smaller one raised the arm his duel disk was rested on and a small AI raised out of that one that Kusanagi understood one thing. They had been right with their suspicion. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I thought I could get Lightning back when they took me back to that place. But instead I gained Void.” Jin explained, a small smile on his face that seemed so wrong and somehow Kusanagi wanted to scream about how wrong this whole situation was. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Anyways… I ask you one last time. Stop searching for me. I don’t want you to get hurt, Nii-san.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The hidden threat in those words was rather clear though. And while Shoichi was still trying to comprehend the whole situation Jin started to walk away. It wasn’t until the elevator door started to close behind his brother that he had noticed that the younger one was gone to begin with. Turning around he tried to stop the door from closing, a desperate “Jin!” on his lips but he was too late. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For a moment he thought about taking the stairs to catch the other one again, but the other’s words were still clear in his head. Jin didn’t want him to follow him. And whatever he was planning.. people would get hurt. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Damn it… Jin…” he whispered eventually, unsure what to do with this information. Eventually he went through the whole conversation over and over again in his head until he stumbled over another detail Jin had mentioned. One he hadn’t really noticed before. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>‘When they took me back to that place.’</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He had pulled out his phone and dialed a number before he even was noticing what he was doing. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Takeru? Tell the others I know where they took them.” </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. [ Twenty ]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Chapter twenty's here :D <br/>It's just a short one, little scene featuring Miyu and Yusaku before we start with Ryoken's group finally having a lead in the next chapter. </p>
<p>Thank you for all the kudo's and the comment &lt;3 I love seeing every single notification. </p>
<p>I hope you have a nice week, until next time &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Yusaku couldn’t tell how long exactly he was sitting at the beach, silence all around him. He had left Chaos inside at some point, because he just needed a moment to himself. As much as he needed Chaos’ presence around, there were still things he needed to work on alone. Well actually it was only one thing. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ai and Revolver. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He knew how Chaos was thinking about this matter. He also was rather well aware that there was something between the two Ignis, that he would probably describe as rivality. He was rather certain that Chaos was kind of envious because even after everything Yusaku still had clung to the hope that Ai was alive. That they would be able to find him somewhere along the way. He never had expected to find his former partner attached to Revolver’s arm though and it still </span>
  <em>
    <span>hurt</span>
  </em>
  <span>. It was a feeling of betrayal that the teen wasn’t sure how to deal with. For a moment he had hoped that maybe… maybe if these two were able to work together, maybe there still was hope for him as well. But the moment Ryoken had banished Furious Dragon he had been sure that there was no hope left. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Part of him was aware about the fact that he wasn’t being fair at this point. Revolver hadn’t known what he was planning to do. But he had bet everything on that single turn, as if he needed proof that he was doing the right thing and well… </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He got what he wanted, didn’t he? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It didn’t help with the mess in his head though. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“...Yusaku?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He flinched a bit at the silent sound of his name, before he turned around, spotting Miyu a few steps behind him. Her eyes were on him and worry was clearly visible in her eyes. The teen frowned slightly, before getting back to his feet, brushing off the sand from his pants while doing so. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Did something happen?” he wanted to know, wondering about why the girl had come here. For a moment Miyu hesitated, before she shrugged slightly. “The sun is going down. I was wondering how long you were planning to sit here?” she replied after a while, eyes wandering out to the ocean.  Again Yusaku frowned, before following her eyes towards the sun and his eyes wide slightly at the realisation of how long he had spent sitting here lost in his thoughts. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I didn’t notice it had been so long.” was his attempt at explaining, while he still was trying to understand the fact that he spent the whole day sitting here wondering about Revolver and Ai. It clearly hadn’t been his intention.  For a moment both of them stayed silent, before Yusaku let out another sigh. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Let’s go back.” he added eventually. He already wasted enough time here, he didn’t need to do so any longer, right?  Miyu nodded softly, but she waited until the other teen reached her, before she turned around as well and walked back towards the mansion they currently called their hideout. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Did you make a decision yet?” she wanted to know after a few steps and Yusaku frowned slightly. “I think I did, but I need to check some things out first.” he replied eventually. It was enough for Miyu to fall silent again. For a moment Yusaku’s look lingered on the other, before he stopped to open the door for them. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you think it’s the right thing to do?” he asked eventually, voice quiet. It wasn’t like he doubted that. Or at least it was what he wanted to believe. The other one stayed quiet for a moment, before she shrugged. “Whether it’s the right thing or not, it’s to protect not only us but Sorrow and the others.” she replied, but wasn’t really looking at him. “ I mean for us it’s clearly the thing we need to do. But Revolver and the others will try to stop us anyways because for them it’s wrong. So who decides what’s wrong and what’s right anyways? It changes depending on which position you look at things anyways.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Well he hadn’t thought about it like that, but he found himself at a point where he had to admit that his companion was right. Good or bad… right or wrong. It really was something that depended on who you asked. There was no right answer to this question. And maybe that was a realisation he needed to have. Because while he had a rather clear plan in his mind, he was rather well aware of the fact that not everyone would understand it outside of his little group. Even more so… he was involving innocents. But they once had been that as well. Innocent. Until first Kogami and later SOL technologies decided to drag them into this mess. No one cared about protecting them either. So why should he bother about those innocent lives he was about to destroy? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They already had passed that point long ago. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. [ Twenty-One ]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Patiently he waited for the other’s reply. Or any sign that showed him that Takeru had heard him to begin with, but nothing like that happened. Instead Kusanagi seemed to have picked up on the situation as he came to them as well and just like Ryoken before he placed a hand on the teens shoulder, but instead of waiting for Takeru to flinch away, Shoichi directly pulled the teen into his arms. At least to that, Takeru seemed to react, as only shortly after his hands grabbed the other’s coat as if his life depended on it. The worry was clearly written on Shoichi’s face, but instead of telling Takeru that maybe Ryoken had been right by telling him not to go to this place as well, he searched the white haired teen’s eyes and nodded slightly as a sign that Ryoken should go ahead without them. </p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I have nothing to say about this chapter besides the fact that I still kinda like it?<br/>It's a bit dark and Ryoken's group makes a huge step forward. Eventually. Maybe it's one back who knows? </p><p>Warning though, there's some mentioning of a corpse in here so if anyone has problem with reading about that please be careful? </p><p>Thank you for all the kudos, favo's and the new comments &lt;3 they all made my day in this stressful times where my life is only work and sleep it seems x'D </p><p>Stay strong, see you all around in two weeks :D </p><p>As always all kinds of reactions are welcome &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was a strange feeling to come back to this place again. Ryoken couldn’t help but swallow slightly once the building appeared between the trees in front of them. He could feel how Takeru goes still next to him, suddenly quiet when he was randomly rambling only seconds before just to keep himself distracted from where they were going. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In all honesty if things had gone like Ryoken would have preferred he came to this place alone. That the older Kusanagi brother would come here as well was one thing. And while Ryoken was aware of the fact that it probably wasn’t easy on the older male either, he knew he had no chance in stopping him from coming here. It had been Kusanagi who had found out in the first place. But Takeru, as well as Haruto and Spectre… Hanoi’s leader would have preferred for those three to stay back on the ship. Not only because it was a huge risk to take them out in the open like that, but also because this place was the one where they had suffered for six month. There shouldn’t be any reason for them to come back. And yet he never had a chance in convincing them not to come. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When they arrived neither of them said a word. Even when Shoichi joined them, all the greeting he got was a quiet nod from the teens before their eyes settled back on the building that seemed so harmless, so ordinary from the outside. Ryoken’s attention was mostly on Haruto at that moment. After all, Spectre had found his way back here all those years ago already. And even though Takeru only had returned here in virtual reality, he still saw this place from the outside. Haru on the opposite hasn’t seen this place since the day they were rescued. And Ryoken wondered if there was anything the teen recognized. If he could remember something about this place that went beyond white walls and pain and hunger. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn’t ask though. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Instead it was Spectre who broke the silence after what felt like an eternity when he asked if they should go in just like that. What… probably was a good question. They had come here without a real plan. If this really was the place the other three were kept, there was a high possibility of those behind everything still being around as well. On the other side Yusaku and Miyu had been able to log into Link VRAINS. And Jin had even been able to visit his brother. Were they really still kept here?  What if they were running into a trap? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In the end neither of them got the chance to reply, as Takeru obviously had run out of patience and instead just stormed forward towards the door and Ryoken found himself following him soon after. He didn’t need to turn around to notice the other three were following them as well. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he reached the door Takeru had already disappeared in the building, but it stayed silent so the white haired teen suspected that he hadn’t run into anyone. That he was </span>
  <em>
    <span>wrong</span>
  </em>
  <span> with that thought he noticed the moment he reached the younger teen again, who had stopped in the middle of the room and somehow Ryoken couldn’t fight back the feeling to just leave this place instead of going deeper into it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hadn’t even reached Takeru yet when he was greeted by a rather pungent smell in the air. While he had an idea about what had caused it, Ryoken was praying that he was somehow wrong, but as soon as he reached the other one he was proven otherwise the moment his eyes met the lifeless body on the ground. There was a lot of blood around the corpse and by the looks of it Ryoken didn’t doubt that this person was dead for days, if not weeks, already. Which… didn’t really help in erasing the bad feeling he was getting. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the hell did happen here…?” Takeru asked after a while, but Ryoken found himself in a position where he couldn’t give any answer because he didn't know either. Didn’t want to know. Ai peaked out of the duel disk as well, looking around in the room, but stayed quiet for now. If he was feeling Yusaku close by he didn’t mention it. Somehow Ryoken couldn’t help but wonder if they were </span>
  <em>
    <span>too late</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Haru and Spectre reached them with Kusanagi shortly after, all of them rather surprised if not shocked by the dead body they had just stumbled over and there probably was no doubt that they were all wondering about the same question right now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>What had happened that led to that guy's death? And even more… </span>
  <em>
    <span>Who</span>
  </em>
  <span> had shot him? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Suddenly Ryoken was torn between the need to take a deep breath and at the same time the fact that he didn’t want to breathe at all as the smell was still burning in his nose with every breath he took. “Let’s...see if we can find something else.” he said instead, forcing himself to look away from the corpse to focus on the rest of the room. If Yusaku and the others were here…. God he could just hope that whoever had shot that guy hadn’t gone after them as well. On the other hand… the guy seemed to be dead for a longer while now. And they had met Unknown and Rain online only recently. Jin had been at his brother's place a few hours ago. So they couldn’t be dead. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Somehow that thought wasn’t reassuring either, because Ryoken couldn’t help but wonder if their missing friends were involved in this more than would be good for them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>While Spectre and Haru only shared one look before they went ahead towards the white rooms, Ryoken couldn’t bring himself to go towards that direction any further. What probably was okay because Takeru seemed like he couldn’t either. Carefully he took a step towards the younger teen before placing a hand on his shoulder. He wasn’t surprised that Takeru flinched away under the touch. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If it’s too much for you it’s okay to leave.” he spoke out after a while, but it seemed like Takeru hadn’t even heard him. Ryoken could only imagine what exactly went through the others head right now. Same goes for Haruto and Spectre as well and Ryoken could only guess whether they were okay or if they left so soon because they wanted to avoid letting him see them suffer. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Patiently he waited for the other’s reply. Or any sign that showed him that Takeru had heard him to begin with, but nothing like that happened. Instead Kusanagi seemed to have picked up on the situation as he came to them as well and just like Ryoken before he placed a hand on the teens shoulder, but instead of waiting for Takeru to flinch away, Shoichi directly pulled the teen into his arms. At least to that, Takeru seemed to react, as only shortly after his hands grabbed the other’s coat as if his life depended on it. The worry was clearly written on Shoichi’s face, but instead of telling Takeru that maybe Ryoken had been right by telling him not to go to this place as well, he searched the white haired teen’s eyes and nodded slightly as a sign that Ryoken should go ahead without them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t until Ryoken had reached the door to the other room that he realized that maybe splitting up like this hadn’t been the best idea, but it probably was too late now anyways and as soon as the thought had come up, it vanished again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>For a moment Ryoken felt like he was eight years old again. He could almost hear the children's painful screams, even though he was rather well aware of the fact that no one was screaming right now. Those kids had all survived, even though he couldn’t exactly say all of them were safe. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>If he was honest to himself… he had planned to never return to this place. Back when he had found Spectre here he had sworn he would never come back. Seems like he couldn’t have avoided it any longer. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Entering the room he had spent countless hours in as a kid Ryoken could feel how the memories hit him right in the face. He tried not to let himself drown by them. He needed to stay focused, because even though he had the feeling that whoever had killed that man in the other room wasn’t around anymore… they couldn’t rule out the possibility that someone was still here either. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Letting his eyes wander around the room carefully he tried to avoid looking at the part of the room with all the shelves he had hidden between all those years though. Instead his eyes found something else shortly after. On the desk close to the door he could spot a gun, but what got his immediate attention was a stash of cards carefully but beside it. Ryoken hadn’t even noticed he had walked towards the table until he was standing right in front of it. Somehow he was rather sure the gun was the one that had ended the stranger's life, but it wasn’t the weapon that had gotten his attention but the cards. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And even Ai had come out of hiding at this point, eyes on the cards as if they were calling him. Ryoken didn’t notice he was trembling until he had the cards in his hands and saw how much they were shaking in his grip. And once he turned the stash around he was greeted with a deep blue card and by now rather familiar artwork. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Firewall Dragon.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“...Yusaku...what did you do?” </span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. [ Twenty - Two ]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Spectre had been around this place again once before when he had met Ryoken again all those years ago, so he wasn’t so sure what the other teen was feeling or thinking right now. All in all… he had enjoyed being here. Haru didn’t.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Double chapter cause I feel like both scenes would have been too short to stand alone. </p>
<p>To be honest I haven't managed to work much on this story over the last few weeks because work is stressing me out and it starts to drain me down on a physical level and I'm just...tired xx</p>
<p>I'll still try to keep up with my two week rhythm, but if things go bad I might have to go down to monthly chapters or something like that v.v</p>
<p>As always comments and feedback are apreciated &lt;3</p>
<p>Stay save in the current times and till next time :  )</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Spectre wasn’t so sure what exactly had happened with that guy in the other room, but it wasn’t really what he cared about right now anyways. After all… they weren’t here for any random guy but for the missing teens and as long as they wouldn’t find them dead Spectre would be okay with it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Eventually they had found two other guys, trapped in one of those white rooms and actually… Spectre didn’t really feel any sorry either. They had put Yusaku and the others through this so it was only right to suffer the same fate. In some kind of weird justice but it was better than no justice at all and looking at how the authorities had dealt with the incident last time he would suspect it was the best outcome they could get. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They were already on their way back to the others without more information than they had to begin with besides the fact that the missing teenagers weren’t around this place any longer when Haruto suddenly stopped. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s…. strange to be here again.” his voice wasn’t much of a whisper though. Spectre had been around this place again once before when he had met Ryoken again all those years ago, so he wasn’t so sure what the other teen was feeling or thinking right now. All in all… he had </span>
  <em>
    <span>enjoyed</span>
  </em>
  <span> being here. Haru didn’t. “How did you end up here to begin with?” he asked out of curiosity. After all.. he had found this place on his own and had been taken in because otherwise he would have been an unwanted witness. But the others? Well he knew how Yusaku ended up at this place, but with all of Ryoken’s obsession for that teen that wasn’t that surprising at all. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"When I met Kogami back then, he asked me if I could help him find his son." Haruto broke the silence after a while. At this point Spectre hadn't really expected any reply from the other one anymore, so he turned around to him in surprise the moment the green haired teen had raised his voice. But what the other one was saying was an even bigger surprise, because Spectre never really had been aware of the fact that Kogami had used Ryoken like that. Surely he had learned by now about his friend's meeting with Playmaker on that fateful day all those years ago, but besides that? Ryoken never had mentioned being involved in the others disappearances as well. Or… Could it be he never knew about it? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Well we haven't found him, but all the time he was talking about him and how his son was looking for friends and got lost while doing so. Back then I thought this boy must be really lonely." Again Haruto stopped, while his eyes fixed on white walls before him and for a moment Spectre wasn't sure if the teen was still with him or lost in his memories. Lost in this place. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>" Did you meet Ryoken-sama back then? " he couldn't help but ask though and the other one frowned slightly as a response. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"No. But the whole time I was in this place I was hoping that his father never found him. That he wasn't held here as well." </span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>“What exactly is this?”  Miyu found herself asking in the moment her eyes had spotted the code Yusaku was currently working on. While she knew a bit about the basics of coding this was way over her level. But she couldn’t help but feel like it was something important. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yusaku didn’t react to her words at first. Instead he finished the line of code he was working on, before he closed his eyes for a second and then turned around to her. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s basically the core of the program Hanoi used for their tower.” he explained and Miyu found herself nodding. She didn’t know much about the tower besides what had appeared in the news and the fact that Aoi had said they had used the tower to find Lightning. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re gonna use their own program against them?” she asked eventually and the first reaction she got from the other one was a smirk. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thought it’s fitting to use their own weapon against them looking at the fact that we’re living in what once was their base.” Well Miyu couldn’t deny that it was fitting in some way. It was probably a move they weren’t expecting from them. Not that she believed Revolver’s side had any clue about what they were up to at all to begin with. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But if you used their code as base, wouldn’t it be easy for them to stop it?” Jin suddenly joined the conversation and for a moment Miyu wondered when the other boy had entered the room. Yusaku wasn’t even asking himself this question anymore. He hadn’t noticed Miyu entering before either as he had been lost in his work. Jin could have been here the whole time for all he could tell. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Probably.” he agreed, which caused Miyu to blink a bit surprised and Jin to come a bit closer to them to take a look at the screen as well. “You expect them to stop it, right?” he added after a while, looking at the older teen. Again Yusaku nods slightly before turning around to the screen again. “I do. But it should be enough to keep them busy and distract them from our real goal.” he replied, before he opened another tab on the screen and both other teens got a bit closer to get a better look. It was a news article, saying something about some reactor and a program and how it was connecting most cities with each other. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fortune?” Miyu asked a bit confused, because she wasn’t so sure what all of this was about as well. As she had acquired some basic understanding of coding and hacking while living on the run, she never bothered with learning more than necessary and so most of the technical information written in that article was beyond her. Looking at Jin, he didn’t understand more than she did and so the two confused teens settled down with looking at Yusaku, waiting for a better explanation. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fortune is a program that’s keeping the Ener-D reactor of New Domino city stable and safe.” he started to explain after a while. He was still looking at the screen, but his eyes seemed kinda empty at that moment and Miyu couldn’t help but wonder what the other one actually was seeing right now. “If we manage to outrun their security and change the base code we should be able to cause the reactor to blow off again.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was what was worrying him the most about this whole plan. It wasn’t like he had any doubts at this point, but he was aware of the fact that those that once cared for him probably would fall first if they would be able to get through with their plan. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thanks to the program linking most cities with each other at this point and every reactor built it would cause some chain of explosions, eventually taking away most of electricity.” he added after a while and some kind of understanding appeared in the other two eyes. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Obviously the plan would cause some massive damage and collateral damage and even in the aftermath there still would be a lot of casualties. After all… without energy most hospitals wouldn’t be able to function. The network would stop existing.  It would cause some chaos, probably some panic and all in all it would cause a situation where no one would have the time to chase after them or the Ignis anymore because those still alive would have other things to worry about or work on. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How would it affect Void and the others?” Jin asked after a while, after all those three were AIs. And with the network gone… what would happen to them? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We need to get them some SOLtis bodies first.” Yusaku replied and Miyu couldn’t help but notice that the other had spent a lot of thoughts on this plan already. “Once we have them we’re gonna separate them from the network. If the batteries are charged 100% they should last a couple of days giving us time to get energy back to work.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>If they would survive till then to begin with. Truth was Yusaku wasn’t so sure about that at this point and he was rather well aware of the fact that the other two </span>
  <em>
    <span>knew</span>
  </em>
  <span>. They just weren’t talking about it at this point, because neither of them could find themselves in a position to </span>
  <em>
    <span>care</span>
  </em>
  <span>. In the end it was no secret that he already had told the world that ‘Yusaku’ died. And he knew as far as the other two were concerned ‘Miyu’ and ‘Jin’ didn’t made it out of the torture this time either. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. [ Twenty - Three ]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p> “Borreload Furious Dragon?” He had meant to ask about this card a lot earlier. Actually right after that duel had ended, but Ryoken had locked himself away and then stuff happened. Still at this point Takeru wasn’t sure what exactly he had thought going back to that place would do good to him, but he wouldn’t admit out aloud that Ryoken had been right with telling him to stay behind. But now that they finally got the chance to talk to each other without the others around. He hadn’t spotted Ai yet, so the Ignis probably was wandering around the ship right now and Takeru could only suspect that Ai had been aware he had been waiting for a possibility like this. </p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>And a new chapter. <br/>Hello to everyone :) it's a day late because I was so done after therapy yesterday that I didn't manage to do anything v.v </p>
<p>With this chapter we reach a long overdue talk I guess? </p>
<p>After this chapter I have 2 (3 if I cut the one at some point) chapter's left till I caught up to the point where I'm currently am struggling with. Also we're getting closer to the duel parts of this story and I still don't know how exactly things are supposed to be there so... it will be interesting for me to work with it for sure. I just hope I will manage eventually. </p>
<p>Like always, feedback's apreciated. Also thanks for all the kudos I got for the last chapter &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“So…” Takeru started after a while, leaning himself against the ship’s rail, eyes still focused on the older teen. It wasn’t exactly like he had been walking around the ship to search for the other one, but now that he had </span>
  <em>
    <span>found</span>
  </em>
  <span> him on his own he wouldn’t let the opportunity slip either. Who knew when they’d get the chance again with everything going on around them right now after all? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span> “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Borreload Furious Dragon</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” He had meant to ask about this card a lot earlier. Actually right after that duel had ended, but Ryoken had locked himself away and then stuff happened. Still at this point Takeru wasn’t sure what exactly he had thought going back to </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> place would do good to him, but he wouldn’t admit out aloud that Ryoken had been right with telling him to stay behind. But now that they finally got the chance to talk to each other without the others around. He hadn’t spotted Ai yet, so the Ignis probably was wandering around the ship right now and Takeru could only suspect that Ai had been aware he had been waiting for a possibility like this. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As soon as those words had left his lips, Ryoken couldn’t help but </span>
  <em>
    <span>sigh</span>
  </em>
  <span> because he as well had known that this conversation would happen sooner or later, but actually… </span>
  <em>
    <span>later</span>
  </em>
  <span> was what he would have prefered because this wasn’t an easy topic. Nothing about Yusaku ever was, but still… the card was somehow representing their bond. And even though Ai had told him about the messages that had been hidden between Unknowns attempt to play that card, Ryoken still wasn’t sure if he hadn’t made a mistake at that point. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I gave it to him, while he was going to face Ai.” the older one replied eventually, but instead of looking at the younger teen, Ryoken had turned around to watch the ocean instead. At this point Takeru had more or less suspected that Ryoken had given the younger one the card at some point, but it was still news to him in the end. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You </span>
  <em>
    <span>knew</span>
  </em>
  <span> where that duel took place?” That was probably the bigger surprise in that information. Because Takeru had wondered quite some time about that question. Honestly, he would have prefered to go with Yusaku to that duel, but he had known that it was something that Yusaku might want to do on his own. Eventually the other teen had left before Takeru got the chance to ask. And with him not even having told Kusanagi where he was going… Takeru had thought he hadn’t told anyone. But still Ryoken seemed to have known about the location for one reason or another. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Would you believe me if I’d say I made a good guess?” Ryoken replied after a while and he didn’t even needed to turn around and look at Takerus face to know that no, no the younger one wasn’t believin that one second. Letting out a sigh he shook his head slightly. “I might been following him there.” he admitted eventually though. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For a moment Takeru was quiet, not sure if he should be angry about that fact or not. Truth to be told he already had expected that much, thus the lack of surprise at this point. If he was surprised at all than more about the fact that the older one actually had admitted what he had suspected long ago already. The other one really had been keeping tracks on Yusaku. So how could they have missed the teen going missing in the first place? But he wasn’t voicing that question, after all he knew all too well that Ryoken probably was blaming himself the most about what had happened. Like </span>
  <em>
    <span>always</span>
  </em>
  <span> it seemed. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So you were there when…” he started, but before he could finish his sentence Ryoken had already shook his head again, while finally facing him once again. “No. I left right after I gave him that card I… I probably should have stayed but yet again…” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He </span>
  <em>
    <span>ran</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He left all the responsibility on Yusaku’s shoulders once again like he hadn’t learned anything from the past and again it was Yusaku who had to pay the price for his mistakes. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So you just gave him your card - a rather </span>
  <em>
    <span>good </span>
  </em>
  <span>card if I might add this here - and left without wanting to get it back?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And again Ryoken felt silent. For a while the only sound to hear was the waves around the ship, while Takeru was almost </span>
  <em>
    <span>staring</span>
  </em>
  <span> at the older one and Ryoken wasn’t sure how to explain what was going on in his head. If he even should explain it in the first place, because usually it wasn’t something he would do. Even less with Takeru around. Spectre mostly saw right through him right from the beginning, so there was no need to explain anything. And the rest of the commanders as well as Haruto mostly accepted his decisions without questioning them at all. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And then there was Yusaku, who had caused Ryoken himself to question almost </span>
  <em>
    <span>everything</span>
  </em>
  <span> he had done to a point that it had become easier to just avoid the younger boy's presence. Look where it got them though… </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I still have that card in my deck.” That statement got him another confused as well as surprised look from the other one for sure, but Ryoken already had turned around to the ocean again, so he wasn’t seeing it at all. Yet he could almost </span>
  <em>
    <span>feel</span>
  </em>
  <span> it on his back. “Unlike you and Yusaku I don’t use physical cards.” he added after a while, now looking down on his duel disk. “I mean, not that we know what kind of deck Yusaku is currently using…” After all, Playmaker’s deck was with him right now. Or rather in his room. Ai was probably the only one who knew where exactly Ryoken had put those cards after they had returned to the ship. The white haired man was certain that one day he’d be able to give those cards back to their rightful owner, but they really had to find Yusaku </span>
  <em>
    <span>first</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But I use the data saved on my duel disk. So I don’t really </span>
  <em>
    <span>need</span>
  </em>
  <span> the physical copy to use it. To be honest I was convinced that Yusaku would seek out for me again if only to give me the card back but I guess he didn’t get the chance. And looking at how things are right now I guess I won’t demand it back anymore at all.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why?” Takeru had asked that question before he had been able to stop himself. After Unknown had used said card </span>
  <em>
    <span>against</span>
  </em>
  <span> Ryoken himself he more had expected, that the other one would want that card back before it could cause more damage. But again Ryoken surprised him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Because this card is a symbol of our bond.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But it’s not like Yusaku still cares much about that, does he?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>At this point Ryoken shrugged again, before he closed his eyes, for a moment listening to the waves. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I thought so but… then I found his deck.”  And again that wasn’t really making sense for Takeru because why should anything change about this after finding these cards? Except… </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You mean…?” </span>
  <span></span>
    <br/>
  
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Yeah… he didn’t leave Furious Dragon behind.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Well that was… unexpected. Actually Takeru wasn’t even sure if that made sense at all. Why would Yusaku keep that card that connected him to Ryoken, when he left behind the rest of his deck? When he was trying to get them all to believe that he was dead? If he would want to get rid of his past, he wouldn’t keep anything from it around, would he? So why keep the card that was a symbol for whatever this bond between him and Ryoken was? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t understand…” he started eventually, taking a step closer to Ryoken, but he never got the chance to finish that sentence, as their conversation was interrupted at that point when the door was thrown open without any warning but a loud bang. Instantly both teens turned around in a mix of surprise and annoyance of them being interrupted. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It took both of them just one look into Haruto’s face to realize that something had happened. The words that followed were proving that much, but yet again… they made no sense to them at all. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span> “Ryoken! The tower. They activated the Tower again!”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0024"><h2>24. [ Twenty - Four ]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Our mission. Even though it had been Yusaku's plan from the beginning and he barely had taken into account comments or ideas of the other two they were still standing right behind him in this without any doubt. Yusaku was aware that Miyu was most likely doing it because she didn't know where to go otherwise, but with Jin? The blue haired teen couldn't help but wonder what exactly Jin's motivation was. And it caused him to realize that maybe the other teen was a lot more like his Ignis than they had thought possible. Not that it actually was a bad thing, but right now it was getting slightly annoying. If not.. irritating. </p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>New chapter with ... almost a month delay. I'm tempted to say I'm sorry but I fear like the time span between the chapters will getting longer at this point. I'm currently having a lot of stress at work, also not doing really good mentally and physically. It's difficult to focuse on stuff, but I care a lot abotu this story so I don't want to write on it halfheartly. I want to put my best into it after all. </p>
<p>So I'm apologizing for the waiting time in advance I guess? </p>
<p>Feedback's very welcomed though. </p>
<p>Stay safe everyone. </p>
<p>Until next time.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>"So… why did you keep that card?" </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>At the sudden question Yusaku actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>flinched. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Not because he hadn't expected Jin to speak up, or voice his concerns about this but more because of the tone he was using while doing so. It almost reminded him of </span>
  <em>
    <span>Lightning </span>
  </em>
  <span>and certainly had been something he hadn't expected. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"What's with that sudden question?" he replied eventually, frowning slightly. It wasn't like he didn't already know the answer but asking would buy him some time because actually he had no clue how to explain what was going on in his head at that point. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jin obviously realized he was stalling him. At least if the expression on his face was any clue for that. Actually… Yusaku couldn't bring himself to care at all, still busy with trying to figure out how to answer at all. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Why did he keep the card? </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>" Don't mess with me. If you're still attached it's gonna risk our mission." </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Our mission. Even though it had been Yusaku's plan from the beginning and he barely had taken into account comments or ideas of the other two they were still standing right behind him in this without any doubt. Yusaku was aware that Miyu was most likely doing it because she didn't know where to go otherwise, but with Jin? The blue haired teen couldn't help but wonder what exactly Jin's motivation was. And it caused him to realize that maybe the other teen was a lot more like his Ignis than they had thought possible. Not that it actually was a bad thing, but right now it was getting slightly annoying. If not.. irritating. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"And why did you go to warn your brother?" he finally replied, settling down on what to say. How to say it. There was a short moment of surprise visible in Jin's face, but Yusaku didn't give him the time to reply anything, afraid that he wouldn't get his point across if he would stop now.    "Bringing your brother on our tail could risk our plan as well."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"That's not the same and you…" </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"It totally is the same. You went to him to do what? </span>
  <em>
    <span>Protect him? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Or was it more to prove yourself why you don't want to go back to before?" </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For a moment there was silence between them. Both teens were staring at each other, while their Ignis watched them with a worried expression on their faces as much as it was possible in their current form. Void not sure whether or not his origin would snap, Chaos more because he wasn't sure where exactly Yusaku was going with this. Truth to be told he had asked the other one about that card before as well. The conservation that had followed had been a </span>
  <em>
    <span>mess</span>
  </em>
  <span> and it ended with Yusaku shutting him out completely for the rest of the day </span>
  <em>
    <span>and </span>
  </em>
  <span>the next one. Something that hadn't gone unnoticed by the rest of the group but no one has dared to speak up about it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The rather intense stare battle was in the end interrupted by Miyu entering the room totally obvious to the ongoing situation but still not blind to the atmosphere between the two boys. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Are we going to fight each other now as well?" she spoke up eventually, her tone empty and there wasn't any way to say whether she was serious with this or trying to make a joke of it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jin blinked clearly irritated by the sudden interruption, most likely because he hadn't noticed that Miyu had entered the room until she actually had spoken up. Yusaku just flinched slightly, before shaking his head. "No. No we're not." Because they couldn't afford that. They already were outnumbered and even though Yusaku wasn't planning a direct confrontation he was aware of the fact that the other side sooner or later would get to them. Yusaku wasn't sure whether or not they would come to fight, but they definitely would try to stop them eventually. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I was just trying to explain to Jin that I didn't keep Revolver's card because I still have any feelings towards him, but barely to remind myself of his betrayal." </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Well it definitely wasn't the reply Jin had expected but he was visibly happy with it and eventually left the room again  What he did miss though was the look Chaos was giving his origin. The word </span>
  <em>
    <span>liar </span>
  </em>
  <span>almost screams from the expression of his eye. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yusaku </span>
  <em>
    <span>did</span>
  </em>
  <span> notice, but decided not to comment on it. He was aware of the fact that he hadn't been exactly honest here but… Jin was </span>
  <em>
    <span>right </span>
  </em>
  <span>and the fact that he still hadn't been able to sort his feelings out.. he could just hope he would manage </span>
  <em>
    <span>before </span>
  </em>
  <span>he had to face Revolver again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For a moment there was silence between them, in which Chaos was just staring and Yusaku rather obviously ignored said stare. For a moment it was like both of them had forgotten Miyu was still in the room </span>
  <em>
    <span>again</span>
  </em>
  <span>, before the girl decided to break the silence once again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You know that wasn’t exactly fair right? To </span>
  <em>
    <span>lie</span>
  </em>
  <span> to him like that by telling him what he wanted to hear?”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Green eyes widened a bit by those words, as Yusaku turned around to her, now ignoring Chaos for real. He had known about the fact that Aqua had been able to tell when someone was </span>
  <em>
    <span>lying</span>
  </em>
  <span> and he had wondered if Miyu as her origin had the same ability, but getting a proof for it like this wasn’t exactly what he wanted. Even less because this topic was sensitive, not only for them but their plan… </span>
  <em>
    <span>his plan</span>
  </em>
  <span>… as well. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For a moment the blue haired teen wasn’t sure what to reply to these words, but part of him was aware of the fact that he needed to be careful. Because lying to </span>
  <em>
    <span>her</span>
  </em>
  <span> now would only make things more complicated. Jin already wasn’t happy with him keeping that card, even though it seemed like that situation was solved </span>
  <em>
    <span>for now</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He really didn’t need to lose Miyu’s trust as well. They were on the same side after all. And after everything Yusaku would </span>
  <em>
    <span>hate</span>
  </em>
  <span> to see her as an enemy as well. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“...are you going to tell him?” he wanted to know instead, maybe a weak attempt to change the topic, maybe one to reassure himself that she still was on his side. For a moment Miyu was watching him with a careful look in her eyes before she shrugged slightly. “For now? No I won’t. But I ask you to sort these things out. Because… if </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> have doubts. How are </span>
  <em>
    <span>we</span>
  </em>
  <span> supposed to know this is still the right thing to do?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t have doubts about the plan.” Yusaku found himself soon to disagree. And he meant it. Maybe he was a little bit conflicted when it came to his feelings towards Revolver. There was a lot of hurt, betrayal and disappointment involved, but there still was the fact that the other one </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> his voice of hope. Of </span>
  <em>
    <span>reason</span>
  </em>
  <span>. His special person and it couldn’t suddenly mean nothing at all. But still… still… they </span>
  <em>
    <span>had</span>
  </em>
  <span> to be successful with this mission, because only if humanity was </span>
  <em>
    <span>gone</span>
  </em>
  <span> he could be certain that no one would ever attempt to hurt Chaos. To take his partner away from him the way they did with Ai. He wouldn’t … couldn’t let that happen again. He had failed to save Ai, he couldn’t fail </span>
  <em>
    <span>again</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For a moment Miyu was almost </span>
  <em>
    <span>staring</span>
  </em>
  <span> at him, as if she was searching for something in his eyes and for once the teen found himself unable to look away or stop her in any way. Whatever she was looking for, it seemed like she eventually had found it, as she nodded slightly, before taking a step back.  “Well you better return to work then… Hanoi’s already trying to stop our surprise for them.” she announced the reason she actually had come looking for the two boys, or more Yusaku actually. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yusaku was a bit surprised about the sudden change of topic, but he nodded shortly after, deciding that figuring his emotions and thoughts out could wait a bit longer. While he had expected Hanoi to notice the tower being active right away and he even had </span>
  <em>
    <span>planned</span>
  </em>
  <span> with them stopping it he couldn't make it that easy for them. After all… there was a reason they were using this program after all. It was meant to be stopped as it was nothing more than a </span>
  <em>
    <span>distraction</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Of course Yusaku was aware of the fact how destructive it could be if the tower would actually manage to do its job but… the real target… the thing he actually had set his eyes on… it was so much more dangerous… and it would help him to keep his partner safe. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0025"><h2>25. [ Twenty - Five ]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Bad news and a visit from an old friend. Or something like that. </p>
<p>Ryoken wasn't sure if he had expected any of this and even less if it's a good or a bad thing.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Merry Christmas everyone. </p>
<p>I have to admit I haven't worked much on this story in the past two months after my father suddenly passed away and everything went a bit downhill and yeah. But it's Christmas so I guessed I could at least leave you this chapter? </p>
<p>I still have a few prewritten, but the problem is there's a gap between them. And then there are a few duels I need to write but damn I have no clue how exactly to do this so things gonna be interesting. Hopefully.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>If there was one thing Ryoken started to </span>
  <em>
    <span>hate</span>
  </em>
  <span> then it was coming back to the food truck with </span>
  <em>
    <span>bad</span>
  </em>
  <span> news. At some point along the last seven months he had started to pass by every now and then in an attempt to get news about Yusaku. In the hopes that even if the younger teen wasn’t around, maybe at least Kusanagi would be able to tell him that the teen was alright and </span>
  <em>
    <span>safe</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>By now he knew that Yusaku had been neither. As it was rather obvious at this point that the boy had been taken right after his duel with Ai had ended… Hanoi’s leader couldn’t help but wonder if that actually was </span>
  <em>
    <span>his</span>
  </em>
  <span> fault. If he had gone with the other one instead of running again… if he had returned to check up on him as soon as Spectre and the other had woken up… maybe he could have prevented this. Maybe they wouldn’t be in a situation like that. It wasn’t until he had actually voiced those thoughts to Ai once - it had been in the middle of the night after Ryoken had refused to sleep for several </span>
  <em>
    <span>days</span>
  </em>
  <span> and if he would have been a bit more in control of himself he probably never would have admit any of this out aloud to the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Dark Ignis </span>
  </em>
  <span>even less - the other had pointed out, that there still would have been the possibility of </span>
  <em>
    <span>him</span>
  </em>
  <span> getting caught as well as whoever he would have taken along. Ryoken was rather sure that </span>
  <em>
    <span>if</span>
  </em>
  <span> he had returned, he would have gone alone as the others were still supposed to rest after being in a coma for several days </span>
  <em>
    <span>again, </span>
  </em>
  <span>but even though… if those people had gotten him as well things probably would only have been worse, right? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Even though part of him hadn’t been sure if he didn't </span>
  <em>
    <span>deserve</span>
  </em>
  <span> to go through this pain as well. After all.. he </span>
  <em>
    <span>had watched</span>
  </em>
  <span> those children going through this pain for six months… wouldn’t it have been the perfect punishment to have to go through the same pain as well? If he had been able to spare Yusaku from going through this… wouldn’t it have been even </span>
  <em>
    <span>more</span>
  </em>
  <span> worth it? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ah Ryoken, anything new?” he was eventually greeted by Kusanagi and successfully pulled out of his thoughts as soon as the older man had spotted him coming closer. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They actually hadn’t talked to each other since the day they had left the facility again. He had offered the older one to come with them to the ship to stay at Takeru’s side a bit longer, but the other one had refused. Ryoken hadn’t asked for the reason and never questioned the decision that had been made. But he knew that the other had at least talked to Takeru about it shortly, as he didn't want the teen to feel like he would abandon him after everything that had happened. Whatever reasons he had mentioned, Takeru had accepted them. Ryoken was only suspecting whether it had something to do with Kusanagi still hoping for Jin to return to him once again or with the fact that he needed time for himself to deal with all those impressions from the facility. After all… Kusanagi’s brother had suffered there as well. For way too many months and… they still didn’t know more about the corpses, about the weapon… they all had a lot to think about after they had returned and if the other one wanted to do this on his own without anyone around it was his right to do so. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I fear so.” he eventually replied, tilting his head to the side in an attempt to push all those thoughts from his head. It wasn’t why he was here for right now. Even though… The reason he was here for wasn’t that much better either. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And again he couldn’t help but wonder what exactly Yusaku was planning right now. What was going on in his head? And what exactly was he trying to tell them with these actions? Or… was he trying to tell something to </span>
  <em>
    <span>him</span>
  </em>
  <span> especially? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For a moment the older one was just staring at Ryoken, before he let out a sigh, rubbing through his face with one hand. “That doesn’t exactly sound like good news though…” he commented, part of him wondering whether or not he even </span>
  <em>
    <span>wanted</span>
  </em>
  <span> to know.  Unbeknownst to him Royken was wondering the same. Should he even </span>
  <em>
    <span>tell</span>
  </em>
  <span> the other one? But there was no way to hide this from him forever… after all… even if they had been able to stop the tower from actually appearing in Link VRAINS causing any damage around there </span>
  <em>
    <span>yet</span>
  </em>
  <span>, the way things were working right now it probably was only a question of time when things would go out of hand. When Link VRAINS would be pulled into this mess all over </span>
  <em>
    <span>again</span>
  </em>
  <span> and in that case there was no way for Kusanagi </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> to notice, with him being right at the plaza with all those screens broadcasting </span>
  <em>
    <span>live</span>
  </em>
  <span> from the network world. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ryoken and Takeru had agreed that Kusanagi should learn about what was going on from them though, not from some news flash or something like that. While it had been a possibility to take Takeru along for this talk it also would have been an additional </span>
  <em>
    <span>risk</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Sure they had found corpses at the facility, but there was no guarantee that there was no one involved left. That there wasn’t anyone left that was after the rest of the Lost Incident victims, maybe now more than before with Yusaku and the others going off radar for the rest of the world. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Also… Ai had been rather determined about not letting Takeru leave the ship as the Ignis somehow had decided that Takeru and his childhood friend finally needed to sort things out after fighting and arguing and </span>
  <em>
    <span>avoiding </span>
  </em>
  <span>each other for weeks already. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ryoken had tried not to listen to </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> conversation, but there hadn’t been a way not to hear the AI to complain about ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>the situation being worse and more boring than any soap opera he ever saw in tv’</span>
  </em>
  <span> and actually…Ryoken had wondered for a moment how many soaps the Ignis actually had seen at this point just to distract himself from the main topic it still was clear that there were things that needed to be solved and looking at the fact that </span>
  <em>
    <span>Unknown</span>
  </em>
  <span> was making his move it probably needed to be solved </span>
  <em>
    <span>soon</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I guess they could be worse, but they aren’t exactly good either.” Ryoken found himself agreeing eventually. Mostly because he had almost </span>
  <em>
    <span>felt </span>
  </em>
  <span>the others gaze burn into him as he had started to space out again and really he needed to focus. He couldn’t waste endless time on this because he needed to go back at some point. Of course he trusted the others enough to keep the tower under control but </span>
  <em>
    <span>still</span>
  </em>
  <span>… who knew what the other side would try next? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How about you’re just telling me what’s going on instead of making mysterious comments like that?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Well… the other one probably was right with that, but still… Ryoken couldn’t even begin to explain why he had so many difficulties with just saying what was going on. Maybe because the tower usually had been Hanoi’s program. </span>
  <em>
    <span>His</span>
  </em>
  <span> responsibility. So this probably was partly his fault, cause if he hadn’t used that code to eliminate the Igis - and to kill not only himself but </span>
  <em>
    <span>Yusaku</span>
  </em>
  <span> with him, even if he wouldn’t admit that either - than maybe… maybe they wouldn’t be in this situation right now either.. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yet the other one </span>
  <em>
    <span>needed</span>
  </em>
  <span> to know. From him. Not from the news feed. He shouldn’t forget about that. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shaking his head for a moment the younger one let out another sigh. “We found signs that the tower was activated again… right now the others have things under control but… it seems like whenever we change bits to deactivate it, Yusaku or someone is activating it again and it’s an endless loop since yesterday.” he admitted eventually, dropping his gaze down to the ground because no… no he actually couldn’t bear to see the others reaction, because Ryoken was rather certain that the other one would blame him for this as well. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Had</span>
  </em>
  <span> to blame him for it as well, after all… this </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> his fault, right? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For a while Kusanagi stayed silent as he thought about the news he just had gotten,</span>
  <span> totally unaware of the thoughts that Ryoken currently was having, not even </span>
  <em>
    <span>thinking</span>
  </em>
  <span> about whether or not the other one could have changed anything about this.</span>
  <span> In all honesty he had hoped for better news. To know Jin was somewhere in this city but refusing to come home already was hard to deal with. That they didn’t even know where the missing teens currently were staying wasn’t helpful either. To hear that Yusaku was messing with Hanoi’s Tower was only raising his worry. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>What were they even planning? Why the Tower? At least Yusaku should be aware of how easily it would be for Ryoken to stop him, so why was he wasting time with it? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Or did he </span>
  <em>
    <span>want </span>
  </em>
  <span>to be stopped? Was someone… </span>
  <em>
    <span>something</span>
  </em>
  <span> forcing him to do this? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Excuse me.” it was an unfamiliar voice that broke the silence in the end, immediately getting the attention not only of Kusanagi but Ryoken as well as both of them now were staring at the stranger. </span>
  <span>Ryoken was frowning slightly. For some reason he couldn’t help but feel like that guy was somewhat familiar. He just couldn’t recall why. Or from where. Whether Kusanagi was feeling the same or not was beyond him, but the older male reacted first. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Can I get you something?” he asked, more or less expecting the stranger to be a new customer who wanted to order something, but the black haired man was shaking his head. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, I actually wanted to ask something and I was told you might be able to give me some information.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Well that was strange. And Ryoken didn’t need to look away from the stranger to notice that Kusanagi was on alert like he was. Both of them weren’t sure what information exactly that guy was after, but the fact that someone sent him here was highly suspicious. After all… Kusanagi was supposed to be nothing more than a normal guy working at a food truck. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is that so?” Ryoken found himself asking and before he realized that he was moving he already stood next to Kusanagi, eyes still on the stranger, who wasn’t really reacting to their obvious wary. Still Ryoken doubt that he wasn’t noticing the drastic change in the atmosphere around them. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah.” the other one replied eventually, looking around like he was searching for someone.  “I’m looking for an old friend of mine. Was told he’s usually around this truck.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was even more alarming in some sense because while Cafe Nagi had a few regulars most of them usually don’t hang out around this place after picking up their food. The only exceptions besides Aoi were Ryoken and Takeru. Well, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>Yusaku</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Well Ryoken was right there so it probably wasn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>him </span>
  </em>
  <span>the other was looking for, but still, the way he was talking wasn’t helping in making any assumptions. All in all the fact that someone was searching for one of the teens wasn’t really comforting, looking at the fact that Yusaku and the others were still missing and they still didn’t know whether those behind the kidnappings all were dead or if there was still someone out there after them. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The stranger was still looking at them, but as neither of them seemed like they would say anything he shrugged slightly, probably assuming that his description just was too vague for them to know who he was talking about. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“His name’s Yusaku.” he added eventually, causing Ryoken to flinch slightly while Kusanagi tensed up again. “I think he goes with the surname Fujiki around here?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wait… Ryoken found himself blinking. What did that guy mean by that? The way he said those words almost made it sound like Fujiki wasn’t Yusaku’s real surname. It probably would explain why they never had been able to gather information about him that went beyond Yusaku showing up in Den City </span>
  <span>around three years ago</span>
  <span>, but still… Why would Yusaku change his name to begin with?</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How do you know Yusaku?” Kusanagi replied eventually, causing Ryoken to frown slightly in displeasure as the older one had just confirmed that they knew Yusaku without them knowing whether or not that guy was a friend or an enemy. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Who are you even?” he added before the guy managed to reply, raising an eyebrow slightly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And why are you searching for Yusaku?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now it was the stranger's turn to fall silent, as if he was thinking about how much information he could share, but eventually he shrugged. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My name’s Fudo Yusei.” he replied and Ryoken’s eyes widened slightly as he realized why that guy seemed familiar to him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Fudo Yusei. </span>
  </em>
  <span>King of turbo duels. Well known scientist from New Domino City. How did someone like him know Yusaku? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yusaku and I grew up at the same orphanage.” Yusei added, answering the question Kusanagi probably had wondered about as well. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The frown on Ryoken’s forehead deepend as the answer led to only more questions than solutions.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I haven’t spoken to Yusaku since he left Satellite. But recently it seems like he’s trying to mess up with a rather dangerous program and I’d like to know </span>
  <em>
    <span>why</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>At this Ryoken quickly exchanged looks with Kusanangi. Neither of them knew what Satellite was supposed to be, but both realized that Yusaku messing with yet another program they weren’t aware of couldn’t be a good sign. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think we should move this conversation somewhere else.” Ryoken decided eventually. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Fortunately it didn’t seem like Yusei wanted to argue about that. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0026"><h2>26. [ Twenty - Six ]</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Here's another chapter. No I haven't forgotten about this story, I'm just struggling with writing the duels so updates still will be rare until I found a way to figure all of this out. </p>
<p>Until then, enjoy this chapter and stay safe and healthy :D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Three hours later they were still sitting in the conference room on Hanoi’s ship. Takeru had joined them at one point, mostly because he was curious about the new person - and he probably wanted to get a break from Spectre or Haruto. Or probably </span>
  <em>
    <span>both</span>
  </em>
  <span> - so he had slipped into the room and sat down next to Kusanagi after a short greeting. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They had spent the last hours talking about what they knew so far. About the teens that had been kidnapped - again - and Yusei’s expression at this point already made way too clear that he not only knew about Yusaku’s past but also about how hard this had to be for the missing teen. Maybe it was an explanation for his current behavior. But still they couldn’t just let him do as he wanted right now as doing that probably would put way too many people into danger. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ryoken even went so far and gave Yusei a little summary about the tower of Hanoi, admitting in the process that he was connected to the first Lost Incident and which role he had played in the mess. What surprised him the most was the short flash of recognition that showed up in Yusei’s eyes at this point though. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re Yusaku’s special person, aren’t you?” he wanted to know after Ryoken fell silent and for a moment the white haired teen wasn’t sure how to react. It already had become clear that Yusei had been close to Yusaku at one point, but close enough to know details like that? While he couldn’t deny that he was curious about it, Ryoken eventually decided that he didn’t really want to talk about this topic. At least not for now. Not with Takeru sitting on the other side of the table already looking like he was about to strangle him </span>
  <em>
    <span>again</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>How the teen had managed to keep his temper in check all the time he was already staying with them was really surprising somehow. Or maybe it just wasn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>him</span>
  </em>
  <span> Takeru was the most angry and upset with right now so he was spared the usual anger. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How did you come to the conclusion that it’s Yusaku who’s messing with Fortune?” he asked instead, head tilted to the side. He had made a quick search for that program after Yusei had mentioned it’s name the first time and he came to the point where he had to agree with the scientist. It really was a dangerous program their mutual friend was messing with. Ryoken just couldn’t understand why. While the younger one had every reason to be mad at him and at several other people he never would have expected him to lash out at innocent people that weren’t involved at all. On the other hand they still didn’t know what goal the other side was working towards. Ryoken himself had been ready to sacrifice thousands of lives for a cause he had thought to be right once. There was no way to say that Yusaku wasn’t thinking like that as well. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now it was Yusei’s turn to fall silent, before he opened a program on the screen he was sitting in front of. A few clicks later they all could see the code on the big screen before them. “If you look at this part of the code, what do you notice?” he wanted to know after a while, causing Kusanagi as well as Ryoken to focus on the lines of code instantly, while Takeru looked rather confused and </span>
  <em>
    <span>lost </span>
  </em>
  <span>with not being able to understand a single line he was confronted with. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It didn’t take that long until Ryoken pointed at a single line in the code though. “That part. The command is written wrong. It shouldn’t work like this.” he added as a small explanation, which Yusei replied to with a small nod. “That’s right. But if you put this at the beginning.” the scientist continued, scrolling a bit up in the program to show them another part. Ryoken frowned slightly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It should get the other line to work but… it’s a rather complicated way though? Why would you define new commands for those already existing?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Surprisingly it wasn’t Yusei who replied to this, but Kusanagi, who was still focused on the program in front of them. “Because they learned it that way, right?” he wanted to know from Yusei without really looking at him. “Yusaku worked like this. I pointed it out to him a few times but he always said he’s so used to doing it that way that it’s too annoying for him to change it.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As he ended Yusei nodded slightly. “That’s right.” he replied, tilting his head to the side. “Yusaku and I grew up in the Satellite. It’s a part of New Domino City that for a long time wasn’t really accepted by the city at all. We were just left there to either survive or die. We didn’t have any schools and had to live with the garbage the city didn’t need any longer. We taught ourselves how to code. But we didn’t have that many chances to look things up. So we learned most of it by trial and error. This way worked out for us. That there’s a shorter, less complicated way was something I didn’t realize until I started to work on Fortune. And Yusaku probably didn’t until you pointed it out to him.” he ended, not looking at Kusanagi directly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Takeru blinked a bit confused, because he didn’t understand a single thing of what the others were talking about. Well he understood so much that Yusaku was doing something more complicated than it was necessary but somehow… the other teen never had been one for the easy way, right? But still… what had one thing to do with the other? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why are you telling us that?” He wanted to know eventually, getting the immediate attention of the other three and somehow Takeru couldn’t help but wonder if he was the only one who hadn’t understood that yet.  So he wasn’t really that surprised that it was Ryoken who answered him eventually instead of Yusei. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Because there probably are only two people who work in this complicated way. Yusei and Yusaku. Because they learned it together that way while everyone else could have looked up the right way to use that command.” he explained. Now it was Takeru’s turn to frown, while he slightly leaned forward on his chair, looking at the code. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So the way this Fortune program is messed with uses that complicated way?” He asked and was again met with a nod. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah. And as I’m rather sure that I didn’t make those changes there aren’t many people left who wrote the changes.” Yusei was visibly not happy with that though. He already had explained that he hadn’t been in contact with Yusaku for two years at least, but still… he wasn’t happy with the younger one turning against him like that.  All in all Yusei just failed to understand why the younger teen was doing this. After all Yusaku had grown up in Satellite as well. He had seen the consequences of Zero Reverse first hand, so why was he trying to recreate something like this? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Even more so… was he really ready to risk their lives with his action? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How difficult is it to stop his attempts at messing with the program?” Kusanagi started to talk after a while, again looking at the code still presented to him. “Because if it’s as easy as he made it for us to stop him with the Tower’s program I wonder if he </span>
  <em>
    <span>wants</span>
  </em>
  <span> to be stopped?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was something he had wondered about before, but up until now he hadn’t spoken up about it. Still it was hard for him to understand why Yusaku would turn against humanity after he fought so hard to protect it, even though it always had been nothing more than a </span>
  <em>
    <span>side effect</span>
  </em>
  <span> of his original goal. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s definitely not </span>
  <em>
    <span>easy</span>
  </em>
  <span> if you’re asking that.” Yusei replied and instantly was taking away the hope Kusanagi had tried to build up. A sign left his lips while he waited for the scientist to continue. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Actually I wasn’t able to stop him yet. I tried but as soon as he noticed that his changes were changed again...well, he kinda locked me out.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Well that was surprising. Even Takeru who didn’t really understand a thing about all this code talk and stuff realized that it was something bad if Yusaku managed to keep Yusei away from his own code. Ryoken frowned slightly. “He’s using Ignis algorithm?” was his first suspicion, but as the other one never really saw that kind of code before Yusei could only shrug as an answer. <br/></span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Might be? I can’t access it anymore. It seems like he’s attacking it from the network and I haven’t figured out how to throw him out.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And if you’re trying to stop his attempts from inside the network as well?” Ryoken replied, tilting his head to the side. It seemed like they didn’t really had any other solution. If Yusaku currently was hiding inside the network they might as well moved this whole search inside Link VRAINS for now. Once they found the other one they still could try to pin his login location down. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is that even possible?” Yusei replied at that moment, and Takeru instantly took the chance of using the fact that he actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>knew </span>
  </em>
  <span>what Ryoken was talking about for once. “You mean using Link VRAINS, right?” He wanted to know and after a moment realization appeared on Yusei’s face. “That… actually could work. I haven’t tried.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Well with that the decision probably was made already. At least Ryoken used this moment to get up from his chair, walking towards the door. “Kusanagi-san, please help Fudo-san accessing Link VRAINS. I’ll inform the others that we’re going to move the search online.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The other two nodded slightly and even Takeru couldn’t help but admit that this sounded like a plan. At least one where he finally could </span>
  <em>
    <span>do</span>
  </em>
  <span> something instead of just sitting around watching the other one working on some codes. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
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